My nomination,
especially as it was Thea's favourite is: "O Holy Night" also
know as "O Night Devine", sung to the tune "Minuit Chretiens /
Cantique de Noel". ---Ernest
*On this Christmas
Eve who are you remembering? Who is close to your heart?
*Do you feel closer
to your loved ones, who have gone on before, when you hear or sing their
favourite songs?
Commentary on this
carol suggests that it is a favourite all because we expectantly wait for the
holy grail of vocal gravitas; it is all about one note. Of this I am not so
sure, especially as this devotion follows yesterday's reflection on Silent Night. As
it begins, the softness and gentleness of the carol draws the human soul in,
souls seeking that peace which the world cannot give.
*How many renditions
of O Holy Night could you listen to in one sitting?
*What do you receive
when listening to this carol?
It is astounding to
think that around 1843, the Catholic church in France, attempted to bury this
beloved carol. Its author, Placide Cappeau (commissioned to write a Christmas poem
for the occasion of dedicating a refurbished organ), was an atheist, and the
composer, Adolphe Adams was Jewish. The carol’s theology was risky too; to
suggest that humans had souls was a radical idea in that time and place. The carol focused on humanity and championed
humility. There is an expression of human agency in the soul feeling worth
because of God’s love – meaning one is no longer in bondage to sin – this is
not what the church wanted people to hear. It would mean a loss of power for
the church.
To Lutheran ears
this argument sounds ridiculous. But this was France in the mid-1800s, Roman Catholic
territory, a different culture from that of protestants who had separated from
Catholicism in the Reformation of the 1500s.
The beauty of the
theology presented in the carol is that there is freedom from bondage. Lutherans understand this through confession, we
are in bondage and cannot free ourselves. The hymn came to America with
Unitarians who were abolitionists; it became a favourite of Christian abolitionists
too. They heard the words as freedom from the bondage of slavery.
Whatever the
interpretation, the message is the power of God’s love. Not only does this
power change human hearts and their actions – CHANGE and FREEDOM, starts with the
soul receiving worth -recognizing its worth, believing its worth - because
of God’s love.
*Do you feel a sense
of worth because of God’s love?
*Do you experience a
sense of warmth -God’s love- when hearing this carol?
* Do you feel like
‘falling on your knees’ as the carol crescendos, and then softens and slows to
a final O night divine?
God,
You love me. You
love humankind and all creation. Free my heart from whatever bondage enslaves
it, to hear this message and integrate it, into who I am. I am worthy! I am free! Because of your love! May this be
my Christmas message to share with the world. Amen.
Link to:
Jerry Butler’s rendition- https://youtu.be/v0dR1Dk7Bu0
Charlotte Church’s
rendition of O Holy Night - https://youtu.be/Fp59f4C0VRc
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