Getting Ready For The Week | Christmas With Compassion | O Holy Night
Getting Ready For The Week
O Holy Night
Sunday, December 7, 2025
Reading For Sunday | Luke 2:6-14
Getting Ready For the Week
This week we focus our attention on one of the most dramatic additions to the Christmas repertoire—“O Holy Night.” This power-ballad-like song has both an emotional arc and a dramatic climax, built around a text that is full of vivid imagery, Scripture references, and connections to the future reign of Christ: “Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever!”
With its origins in France, the text was composed in 1847 when a local priest asked poet Placide Cappeau to write a Christmas poem for a church service. Cappeau wrote the poem and then shared it with his friend, composer Adolphe Adam, who set the poem to music. The song was first performed at a midnight Mass on Christmas Eve in 1847.
The English translation was created in 1855 by John Sullivan Dwight, an American music critic and abolitionist. Dwight was particularly moved by the lines, “Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother, and in His name all oppression shall cease.” These ideas aligned closely with Dwight’s own convictions. The cultural resonance of this text helped propel the hymn to great popularity in America.
“O Holy Night” is certainly one of the most dynamic Christmas anthems. Few songs communicate so vividly the miracle, mystery, and hope of the Christmas story.
With its origins in France, the text was composed in 1847 when a local priest asked poet Placide Cappeau to write a Christmas poem for a church service. Cappeau wrote the poem and then shared it with his friend, composer Adolphe Adam, who set the poem to music. The song was first performed at a midnight Mass on Christmas Eve in 1847.
The English translation was created in 1855 by John Sullivan Dwight, an American music critic and abolitionist. Dwight was particularly moved by the lines, “Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother, and in His name all oppression shall cease.” These ideas aligned closely with Dwight’s own convictions. The cultural resonance of this text helped propel the hymn to great popularity in America.
“O Holy Night” is certainly one of the most dynamic Christmas anthems. Few songs communicate so vividly the miracle, mystery, and hope of the Christmas story.
Resources
Advent for Everyone - N. T. Wright, books
(Also available for Matthew’s Gospel and the Apostles Writings)
“O Holy Night” — Lauren Daigle, Song
“O Holy Night” — Josh Groban, Song
(Also available for Matthew’s Gospel and the Apostles Writings)
“O Holy Night” — Lauren Daigle, Song
“O Holy Night” — Josh Groban, Song