Stille Nacht at 200

It was on this night two hundred years ago that people in the small Austrian village of Oberndorf gathered for midnight mass in St. Nicholas Church.  It was here that those everyday Austrians would be the first to hear a song which is widely recognized in much of the Christian world.  Located near Salzburg, the home of one of the world's greatest composers, Oberndorf was in the throes of discontent as this was only a few years following the completion of the Napoleonic wars.  Salzburg would lose its independence, and in its larger region would see the Saalach River become a dividing line between the Bavarian section of Germany, and Austria.  The associate pastor of St. Nicholas Church, Father Joseph Mohr, and the choir director, Franz Gruber would sing the song "Stille Nacht," or as we know it in English, "Silent Night.  Myth and tales surround this song, but add to, its story.

St Nicholas Church
Church existing in 1818 burned down and was replaced

The song was created to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but we have to think that Bethlehem was likely not very quiet the night Christ was born.  After all, people from all over the region had gathered for the census.  We know that there was no room for Joseph and his very pregnant wife Mary at the Inn, or if your liking goes to a different translation "the place were traveler's lodged."  The owner of the inn provided either a great act of kindness to offer a stable, or a great act of disdain to place a women in her ninth month of pregnancy among animals. Could there be any more humble beginning to a persons life, than to be born in a stable?  The stable was most likely a limestone cave, or the underside of a rock outcropping.  The church of the Nativity is located at a high point, so it may have been a rock outcropping.  At that time even many families lived in caves. Bethlehem was not very large in population 2,000 some years ago, making its ability to handle the number of people arriving into this community even more difficult.  Besides all the travelers, it would have had soldiers, tax collectors, and of course, internet merchants and caravans who followed the mass of humanity.  The allegorical Aaron of the little drummer boy had first hooked up with a caravan before following the trail of the wise men to find the babe.  If the night had been silent, it would have been broken by the cry of a new-born boy then little known, but now highly regarded by Christians today.  This cry would echo off the walls of the limestone cave out to a waiting world.

Beit Sahour, Palestine
Shepherd Cave in the Shepherd Fields

Father Mohr actually had written the words to "Stille Nacht" two years earlier while stationed at the pilgrimage church of Mariapfarr, Austria. His grandfather lived near Mariapfarr, and some believe he first thought of the verses as he made his way to his visit his grandfather.  While it is not clear what drove him to write the words it is well established that he wrote this poem while at that small pilgrim outpost, but the world is fortunate that he took his work with him to Oberndorf and had Franz Gruber provide a melody.

Franz Gruber

Over 2000 years ago, Joseph and Mary would journey to Bethlehem from their home in Nazareth, and after the birth of Mary's son the family would then take their famous flight into Egypt to escape persecution.  This escape seems to have presaged the heavy Christian migration occurring today out of much of the Middle East due to persecution.  The journey to Bethlehemn from Nazareth, about 100 miles, could not have been easy.  Much of the terrain is not conducive to an easy stroll.  The journey probably took eight to ten days.    

Looking over Bethlehem
The wall built by the Israeli government to divide and
control the flow of the Palestinian population

It was on Christmas Eve in 1818 that Father Mohr would walk a much shorter distance to the teacher--choir master's house near that small village in Austria and hand him his poem, and ask him to write a melody for guitar and accompaniment so that it could be sung at midnight mass that evening.  I am sure Franz Gruber's wife was not too happy of him being assigned this type of chore on such late notice. No one knows why Father Mohr would ask that a melody be created at that point, it could be that he wished a composition to be sung with guitar, rather than the organ.  Some have speculated that a mouse destroyed parts of the organ, so it was not playable, although others say the reports of mouse damage was only popularized in the American press. Whatever, the reason, the two stood in front of the main altar and sung "Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!" for the first time.  Their composition would impact the world, and become one of the most famous of Christmas carols.

Franz Gruber and Joseph Mohr
Names should be reversed to align with proper image

The impact of this composition is directly related to those events on that perhaps not so silent, but yet holy night in Bethlehem so very long ago.  Shepherds would quake at the sight of the young baby lying in a manger, swaddled for protection from a cruel world.  Wise men, following a celestial sign, would pay homage to the young child.  Of course, we know that while his birth was important it was his message, his death and his resurrection for which Christians are most grateful.  For God sent his only living son.

Manger Square in Bethlehem

The composition of Mohr and Gruber would be spread to other parts of Germany and Austria by an organ repairman who would obtain a copy of the song while doing work at St. Nicholas church.  The song is thought to have been popularized by two 19th century versions sung by the Vonn Trapp Family Singers.   During this stage the melody was adjusted and some words altered, gradually evolving to the carol we know and sing today.  The changes over time also slowed down the song's tempo.  Originally, it was much more spirited.  For some reason people correlate slow with reverent, to the point that some church music is more laborious than a communist funeral dirge.  Gruber would produce a number of various arrangements of his original composition. A score of the tune signed by Mohr was discovered in 1995.  Analysis puts the date of the discovered copy to between 1820 and 1825, so it was likely a copy of the original, and Mohr appropriately placed a date of 1816--to recognize his original composition.  In the upper right corner Mohr would write:  "Melodie von Fr. Xav Gruber." The song is believed to have had its first English translation of some of the early verses  by Episcopalian John Freeman Young.  If one were to read the BBC account, you think it was Young, and not Mohr, created this Christmas hymn.  Pilfering the historical and archaeological assets of  much of the world was not enough for the English. So goes the world of English dominance giving credit to an interpreter rather than the original composer.

Silent Night Chapel

It would take time for the world to recognize the impact of the birth of the baby which the carol honors.  Christ may have been born on that one night so long ago, but his church would take years to get a foothold, and many more to see it spread through the world.  Christ's message was first spread by the apostles.  Although most of them would stay within the bounds of the Roman Empire, at least one, Thomas, would move beyond and travel to the Indian Subcontinent.

Column in Church of the Nativity

"Silent Night" has been popular with both Catholic and Protestant congregations, and its rise in popularity among Protestants may be due to it being favored by the protestant Prussian ruler William IV.  The third line in English, " 'Round yon virgin Mother and Child" was not in the original German instead it seemingly better translates to "Just the faithful and holy pair." This part of Europe was in a time of transition, and Father Mohr, and the locales in which he served, were adjusting to transfers of territory.   The fourth stanza reads in part:  "...Brought the world peace tonight, from the heavens' golden height Shows the grace of his holy might...."  Was Mohr's desire for peace related to the Napoleonic that concluded in late 1815?  Peace is a concept often relegated to second place in a competitive world.

Recognized birth place of Jesus Christ

Christ was born into an occupied territory, although with some semblance of local control, yet still under the domain of the Roman Empire.  Jesus would spend his life within the bounds of the Middle East, a region of the world still in strife.  On the one hand it is ironic that the Prince of Peace would be born in a region so continually torn, but on the other hand perhaps it is fitting as few regions on have seen the continuation of strife as has the Middle East.  The world is still occupied by humans who are frail and subject to varied thoughts and temptations.  Christ was born in an unassuming manner to unassuming parents. In this he bears some resemblance to Father Mohr, a man who was born and died in poverty. A man who gave what he had to assist the less fortunate.  The author of the words for this carol was contested until the finding of the score in 1995. The English desire to credit John Young with the hymn is due to their initiation of what is the last culturally acceptable prejudice in the western world.   The Austrian public, in the meantime, would begin to realize the significance of this song writer. One commentator, notes the meaning of this song, when he wrote about the seeming insignificance of Fr. Mohr and Franz Gruber:

Perhaps this is part of the miracle of "Silent Night." The words flowed from the imagination of a modest curate. The music composed by a musician who was not known outside his village. There was no celebrity to sign at its world premiere yet its powerful message of peace has crossed all borders and language barriers, conquering hearts of people everywhere. (Egan, Bill)

Church of the Nativity

The words, and simplicity of Fr. Mohr should occupy our thoughts, as peace begins with each of us.  Over 100 years ago, during the Great War, the German army started to sing "Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!" only to hear British soldiers join their singing, The Germans and British would leave their trenches to introduce one act of kindness amid the madness of war.  The Christmas Truce would not be repeated. The song, sung in the trenches of the Great War 100 years ago was only a catalyst to spread forth an idea of peace.  

Silent Night Composition

We need not be king, president, or pope to bring peace into the world.  In its creation by an unknown curate with a melody by a man not known outside his village shows the message of peace can be within each and everyone of us on this precious earth.  Jesus would preach a message of faith, hope, love and peace.  It is up to us to put those words into action.

Full Moon over Bethlehem

Have a Blessed and Merry Christmas!

Re-work of a post from December 2014.
Bethlehem photos by the author, other images from Google