Dear Daughters,

I have always been fascinated by stories behind music, old songs and new.  No song ever comes out of a vacuum but reflects a life, an era, a belief system and a heart.

A few weeks ago I read the back story of one of my favorite Christmas songs, O Holy Night.  I think it is probably one of the most intriguing stories I have ever heard.

The song started way back in 1847 when a parish priest asked Placide Cappeau – a wine merchant, mayor of the town and sometimes poet in France – to pen a poem for Christmas mass.  Cappeau was rather surprised because he was better known for his poetry than his church attendance, but he was honored to take the challenge.

So, as he was traveling by stagecoach to Paris one day, he started reading the Gospel of Luke and imagined himself at the manger in Bethlehem.  By the time he reached Paris, Cantique de Noel was complete.

Cappeau was certain that these words needed a tune, so he turned to a friend, Adolphe Adams, for help.  Adams had studied at the Paris Conservatory and had been commissioned to write works for orchestras and ballets all over the world – a musician extraordinaire.

The interesting fact is that Adams was of Jewish heritage, so the words were about a holiday he did not celebrate and a man whom he did not believe was the Son of God. Nevertheless, he quickly went to work and the song was performed three weeks later at the midnight Christmas Mass.

Cantique de Noel was immediately lauded and loved by many in France, becoming a Christmas favorite.  Sometime later, however, Cappeau decided to become part of the socialist movement, and when some church members found that the tune had been written by a Jew, the song was banned and denounced by Church authorities.

The common French people paid no mind to the intention of burying Cantique de Noel , so continued to sing and share it in their homes and community gatherings.  It became a sort of underground hit in France.

About ten years later the song somehow came to the attention of John Sullivan Dwight, an obscure American writer.  Being an abolitionist, he was particularly impressed by the lyrics of the third verse:

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break,

For the slave is our brother;

And in His name all oppression shall cease.

Dwight decided to translate Cantique de Noel into English, renaming it O Holy Night and publishing it in his magazine.  It soon came to be celebrated as a song of freedom for the American North during this time of the Civil War.

Fast forward to 1906, when the only type of radios existing were wireless transmitters picking up Morse code.  On Christmas Eve that year Reginald Fessenden, a 33-year-old university professor and former chief chemist of Thomas Edison, was tinkering in his office and began to do something that had never before been done.  Fessenden started speaking into a microphone he had rigged up and read the Christmas story from Luke 2:

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed….

Fessenden had no idea who, if anyone, was able to hear his broadcast.  After he finished reading the story, he picked up his violin and played O Holy Night –  the first song ever to be heard over the airwaves. 

There were many who listened to that broadcast on Christmas Eve, some thinking perhaps they were hearing a miracle and indeed it was – in more ways than one.

From the creation of the song in 1847 by two men who really didn’t believe in what they were writing, the song later being shunned by the church hierarchy in France, finding its way to the United States during a time of war, then becoming the first song to ever be heard over the radio, was truly amazing.

Thinking about the wonder of this story, I am amazed at how painstakingly God brought about one of the greatest Christmas songs ever.  If He wants something to happen, He will stop at nothing to let it be so.  He works through many people, oftentimes unknowingly, weaving together a beautiful story and song out of stranger than fiction happenings.

And if He cares that much about mere music dots on a page and words of a song, how much more does He care about you, and all the circumstances that flow in and out of your life?

Even though we may not see Him, His fingerprints are everywhere if we open our eyes to see.

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices

O night divine, O night when Christ was born…

Love, Mom