Merry CHRISTmas to you and yours! One final hymn… William Harold Neidinger wrote both the words and music for “The Birthday of a King.” ’Twas a humble birthplace, but oh! how much God gave to us that day! 1 In the little village of Bethlehem, There lay a Child one…

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE! In 1739, Charles Wesley’s poem beginning “Hark! how all the welkin rings/Glory to the King of Kings” appeared in Hymns and Sacred Poems. Initially the words were paired with a slow, solemn tune. A co-worker changed the opening to “Hark! the herald angels sing…” A hundred years…

Perhaps the most familiar CHRISTmas carol of all time was a collaboration between parish priest Joseph Mohr, who wrote the words, and one of his parishioners, a guitarist named Franz Gruber. It was sung on Christmas Eve of 1818 in the little German village of Oberndorf. I remember singing it…

Originally written in Latin as Adeste Fideles, this CHRISTmas carol has been attributed to various authors, including John Francis Wade (with the earliest copies of the hymn all bearing his signature), John Reading, and King John IV of Portugal. The original four verses of the hymn were extended to a…

My guess is you’re familiar with this carol, but I wonder if you’ve sung all five verses. Edmund Sears penned the five-stanza poem in 1849 at the encouragement of his friend, who was the parish priest. The words were put to a Mendelssohn tune a year later and became a…

“It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” written by Edmund H. Sears and put to music by Richard Storrs Willis, tells such a wonderful story of prophecy fulfilled. 1 It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song of old, from angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of…

Joseph Simpson Cook, a Methodist preacher, wrote the words to “Gentle Mary Laid Her Child.” Ernest MacMillan arranged a 14th century carol to go with them. Such a Babe in such a place, can He be the Savior? Yes, He is! And He is MY Savior. 1 Gentle Mary laid…

“Angels We Have Heard on High” is a traditional French carol. The music was arranged by Warren Angell (how appropriate is that name???) but the translator of the lyrics is unknown. Come to Bethlehem and see Him whose birth the angels sing! Come, adore on bended knee CHRIST the Lord,…

“Good Christian Men, Rejoice” was translated by John Mason Neale from a 14th century Latin carol. We can rejoice because Christ was born to save! Good Christian friends, rejoice with heart and soul and voice; give ye heed to what we say: Jesus Christ was born today. Ox and ass…

The title of this carol is a call to all of us who love Him: “Go Tell it on the Mountain,” written by John J. Work. 1 While shepherds kept their watching O’er silent flocks by night, Behold, throughout the heavens There shone a holy light. Refrain: Go, tell it…