Unwrapping the Carols of Christmas; Silent Night

The song was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 at St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, in present-day Austria. A young priest, Father Joseph Mohr, had come to Oberndorf the year before. He had written the lyrics of the song "Stille Nacht" in 1816 at Mariapfarr, the hometown of his father. The melody was composed by Franz Xaver Gruber, schoolmaster and organist in the nearby village of Arnsdorf. Before Christmas Eve, Mohr brought the words to Gruber and asked him to compose a melody and guitar accompaniement for the Christmas Eve mass. Together they performed the new carol during the mass on the night of 24 December.

 

The original manuscript had been lost. However, a manuscript was discovered in 1995 in Mohr's handwriting and dated by researchers to c. 1820. It states that Mohr wrot the words in 1816 when he was assigned to a pilgrim church in Mariapfarr, Austria, and shows that the music was composed by Gruber in 1818. In 1859, the Episcopal priest John Freeman Young, then serving at Trinity Church, New York City, wrote and published the English translation that is most frequently sung today.

 

In this weeks sermon, Pastor Daniels continues the sermon series of "Unwrapping the Carols of Christmas" with a scripture from Luke 2:10-15 about a silent night observed by shepherds who would be witness to the birth of Jesus Christ.