December 8: Silent Night

Second Week of Advent: Peace
December 8: Silent Night/Stille Nacht (German) - Links and Lyrics Below

The beloved Christmas carol, Silent Night, comes to us from Austria. Stille Nacht in the original German, was written as a poem by a young Austrian priest, Joseph Mohr, in 1816, at a time Austrians were surviving the devastation of the Napoleonic wars and famine. It wasn’t until two years later, in 1818, in the Austrian village of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, when Father Mohr, in need of a Christmas carol for Christmas Eve Mass, asked his choirmaster and organist, Franz Gruber, if he could set the poem to music. Due to recent flooding of the nearby Salzach River, the church organ was unable to be played, so Gruber composed the music for guitar accompaniment and that Christmas Eve night at St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, the Christmas carol Silent Night was heard for the first time.

Father Mohr’s congregation was traumatized from war, poverty-stricken and hungry. Silent Night gave them hope that there was still a God who cared. Today, in the midst of our trials, we long for that hope and peace, too. Silent Night is very much a lullaby. It was a lullaby for our newborn Savior. It is also a lullaby for us. We receive the message of peace, even in the midst of our suffering. Silent Night causes us to pause and be silent in our anxiousness and stress. It is in the silence, where our Savior and peace can enter in.

“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” Luke 2:14

Chaplain Catherine Heimbecher
Door County Medical Center, Sturgeon Bay




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.

Translation:
Silent night, holy night!
All is calm, all is bright.
Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child.
Holy infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight.
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia,
Christ the Savior is born!
Christ the Savior is born
 
Silent night, holy night!
Son of God love's pure light.
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth


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