"Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht"
or "Silent Night"
A Christmas Carol
The Austrian custom is not to sing this song before Christmas Eve. The words to the most often sung verses of the song are featured below, as well as some of the song's history.
La Salette Shrine's Annual Lights, Enfield, NH. photo by James Cummings
According to legend, the words of "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht" are attributed to a parish priest, in Austria, who was inspired after going out on a cold winter's night to bless a newborn baby. Legend has it that on his way home, Joseph Franz Mohr, an assistant pastor in Oberndorf, Austria was struck by the utter silence of the night, and as a result wrote the lines of a poem which later were set to music by his friend, Franz Xaver Gruber, a school teacher.
Nativity Scene - 2010 - at the LaSalette Shrine, Enfield, NH
German Life magazine, December 2006/January 2007, states that "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht" was not written just before Christmas. The poem had been written earlier, but was readied as a carol in time for Chirstmas Eve mass in 1818. The song, one of the most beloved Christmas compositions of all time, is considered "a national treasure" in Austria and has been translated into two hundred languages.
The website for German Life is: http://www.GermanLife.com
Stille Nacht
Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht
Alles schläft, einsam wacht
Nur das traute hochheilige Paar
Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!
Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht
Hirten erst kundgemacht
Durch der Engel, Halleluja,
Tönt es laut von fern und nah:
Christ, der Retter ist da!
Christ, der Retter ist da.
Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht,
Gottes Sohn, o wie lacht
Lieb' aus deinem göttlichen Mund,
Da uns schlägt die rettende Stund.
Christ, in deiner Geburt!
Christ, in deiner Geburt
More information, an 1863 English translation by John Freeman Young, and a literal translation by the German guide at about.com can be found there.
©Copyright 2006. Patricia Cummings, Quilter's Muse Publications, Concord, New Hampshire. pat@quiltersmuse.com