Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful)

O Come all ye faithful joyful and triumphant!

O come ye, o come ye, to Bethlehem

Come and behold him, born the King of angels

O come let us adore Him

O come let us adore Him

O come let us adore Him

Christ the Lord.

Will the real John please stand up?  The 17th Century Christmas carol Adeste Fideles has been attributed to three composers:  John Francis Wade (1711-1786), John Reading (1645-1692) and King John IV of Portugal (1604-1656).  The earliest copies of the carol all bear the signature of Wade. who included the hymn in his own publication of Cantus Diversi in 1751.  The oldest known version, dating from 1759, is held by Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, England.

English Catholic priest, Frederick Oakeley, translated the hymn into English in 1841.  Four verses were added to the original four.  The present harmonization is from the English Hymnal of 1906.  O Come all Ye Faithful is one of the Nine Lessons and Carols sung at King's College in Cambridge, England each Christmas.

Adeste Fideles was recorded by Bing Crosby at Kraft Music Hall in 1944 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7g8xRFSiPI).

http://www.singingwiththespirit.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/O-Come...png

I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In

I saw three ships come sailing in 

On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day,

I saw three ships come sailing in

On Christmas Day in the morning.

This 16th Century English carol talks about three ships that came sailing into Bethlehem on Christmas Day.  However, the closest body of water to the birthplace of Jesus was 20 miles away (the Dead Sea).  It is suspected, therefore, that the three ships refer to three vessels carrying relics of the three wise men to Cologne Cathedral in the 12th Century.  

Another interpretation suggests that the three ships refer to King Wenceslaus of Bohemia sho bore the coat of arms "Azure three galleys argent".  King Wenceslaus is mentioned of course in the Christmas carol Good King Wenceslas.  

A third interpretation points to the three camels that the three wise men road through the desert following the Star in the East to Bethelehem where they presented their gifts to the baby Jesus.

The parent tune for the hymn is "Greensleeves".  The first printed version of the carol appeared in the 17th Century.  It was published by Willliam Sandys in 1833.  Nat King Cole recorded the carol in 1960 on his album The Magic of Christmas (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l5bUgETaic).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rc8CQwMmd0

Phillip Brooks' "O Little Town of Bethlehem"

"O little town of Bethlehem

How still we see thee lie

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep

The silent stars go by."

Phillip Brooks was a 6 foot 6 inch pastor from Philadelphia's Church of the Holy Trinity who could preach 200 words per minute.  One year, he travelled to the Holy Land for a visit.  On Christmas Eve, he rode on horseback from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, the journey that Mary and Joseph took, to preach at midnight mass.  The awesome experience remained etched on his memory.

Three years later, in 1868, the pastor wrote the lyrics to O Little Town of Bethlehem while the church organist, Lewis Redner, wrote the music, to be performed by the children's choir.  Nothing earth-shattering happened at first.  However, in 1874, Rev. Huntington of All Saints Church in Worcester, Massachusetts had the hymn published in his church hymn book.  

While the Christmas song became a popular one in the United States, it was not until 1906 that O Little Town of Bethlehem made it to the shores of England when it was published in an English hymnal.  While the original tune is known as St. Louis, a later tune was used called Forest Green.  In 1922, the carol was published in Hymns Ancient and Modern.(http://hubpages.com/entertainment/ChristmasCarols)

To listen to O Little Town of Bethlehem, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpHY3jU27dc.

https://thecornfedpastor.wordpress.com/2011/12/22/o-little-town-of-bethlehem/

A Baby Changes Everything

Teenage girl

Much too young

Unprepared for what's to come

A baby changes everything.

The teenage girl in the verse from Faith Hill's song could live in Boston...or Toronto...or Brantford (see https://plus.google.com/107939813175034837761/about?gl=ca&hl=en).    A young woman, heavy with child, scorned by her family, lonely, scared, confused, nowhere to go.  A baby changes everything.

Turn the clock back over 2000 years.  A teenage girl in Bethlehem found herself pregnant.  Her fiance wondered about the baby's paternity, planning to send her away secretly.  Her future in-laws could have carried out a "mercy killing" for her adultery.  Her community shunned her.  A baby changes everything.

The young girl visited her much older, pre-menopausal age cousin, also pregnant with child.  Upon the occasion, her cousin felt her own baby move in her womb.  "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb," she declared, soothing words for a girl who was much too young.

About to give birth, she undertook a long journey on a donkey, her fiance by her side.  Near Bethlehem, she found herself out on the street, no room at the inn.  In a manger, under a brilliant star, she lay down on the hay, and there, among the oxen and lambs, she gave birth.  A baby changes everything.

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My Favourite Christmas Decoration

My Mom loves Christmas.  She has always done an excellent job decorating her house to celebrate the season.  When I was growing up, Mom would put up a large artificial tree in the living room (later rec room).  She would put a medium sized silver tree (circa 1960's) on top of the grand piano. She would hang our monogrammed red and white stockings above the fireplace.  She wrapped garland around the staircase leading up to the bedrooms.  She hung a large wreath on our front door.

But my favourite Christmas decoration was the manger scene that sat on our television set.  It came in a rectangular box which said MADE IN ITALY on the bottom.  The roof folded up to fit inside the box as did the stable.  Plastic figurines lay under the roof.  Mom would set up the stable, open up the roof to go on top, and place the figurines carefully in their spots.  Mary and Joseph sat on either side of baby Jesus, sleeping on what looked like a tiny stool lined with hay.  The donkey, ox and lamb gazed at the baby Jesus from a distance. The three wise men, their gifts in their hands, waited in a single file line to see the newborn king. The angel hung from a nail at the peak of the roof.  And the best part of all was the miniature light bulb poking through the back of the stable to serve as the Star over Bethlehem.  

There was something so peaceful about that creche.  When Rob and I bought our house we tried to find a nativity scene just like it, but to no avail.  It was one of a kind.  For more information, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nativity_scene.