“Silent Night” Is 200 Years Old
Translated into over 300 languages, the carol Stille Nacht – Silent Night – celebrated its 200th birthday this Christmas; the event was celebrated in St. Peter’s Square in Rome.
On December 19, 2018, dozens of pilgrims in the uniform of the Schützen – Austrian infantry regiments that distinguished themselves in the fight against Napoleon’s armies in 1809 – intoned the carol Stille Nacht in St. Peter’s Square.
The famous song was performed for the first time on December 24, 1818, in a small village in Austria, near the German border. Fr. Joseph Mohr, the pastor of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, wished to console his parishioners who had suffered so greatly from the Napoleonic wars. He asked his friend, Franz Xaver Gruber, the parish organist, to compose the music for the six stanzas he had written. The song quickly spread throughout all of Europe.
The pacifying effect of the carol made itself felt near Ypres on the Belgian front on December 24, 1914, when a handful of German soldiers lit candles and began to sing it, and the English soldiers soon joined in the song. A sign that men can only find true harmony and unity in adoring the Prince of Peace.
See the video on www.vaticannews.va
Sources: Vatican News / FSSPX.News – 12/22/2018
