Silent Night

Words: , cir­ca 1816-1818. Stan­zas 1 & 3 trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by , 1863; trans­lat­or of stan­zas 2 & 4: anon­y­mous.

Music: , cir­ca 1820.

This hymn’s his­tory is the source of some dis­agree­ment. The tra­di­tion­al story is that Mohr and Gru­ber wrote it in Obern­dorf, Aus­tria, on Christ­mas Eve when they dis­cov­ered the church or­gan was brok­en (dif­fer­ent ver­sions say it rust­ed out, or mice chewed through vi­tal parts). How­ever, re­cent evi­dence in­di­cates this may be only folk­lore. An old man­u­script has re­port­ed­ly been dis­cov­ered that shows Franz Gruber wrote the score 2-4 years af­ter Mohr wrote the lyr­ics. What­ev­er the truth, this car­ol has been a Christ­mas fav­o­rite for al­most 200 years.



Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and Child.
Holy Infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, holy night,
Shepherds quake at the sight;
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!

Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love’s pure light;
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.

Silent night, holy night
Wondrous star, lend thy light;
With the angels let us sing,
Alleluia to our King;
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!



(alternate translation)
HOLY NIGHT

Holy night, peaceful night!
Through the darkness beams a light
There, where they sweet vigils keep
O’er the Babe in silent sleep;
Resting in heavenly peace,
Resting in heavenly peace.

Silent night, holiest night!
Darkness flies and all is light!
Shepherds hear the angels sing;
“Hallelujah! hail the King!
Jesus, the Savior is here,
Jesus, the Savior is here.”

Holiest night, peaceful night!
Child of heaven, O how bright
Thou didst smile when Thou was born;
Blessèd was that happy morn,
Full of heavenly joy,
Full of heavenly joy.



(alternate translation)
Holy Night

Translated from German to English by , 1863.

Holy night! Peaceful Night!
All is dark, save the light
Yonder where they sweet vigil keep
O’er the Babe who in silent sleep
Rests in heavenly peace,
Rests in heavenly peace.

Holy Night! Peaceful Night!
Only for shepherds’ sight
Came blest visions of angel throngs,
With their loud alleluia songs,
Saying, Christ is come,
Saying, Christ is come.