MACK WILBERG
Conductor
ANDREW UNSWORTH
Organist
DERRICK PORTER
The Spoken Word
SUSSEX CAROL
Traditional English carol
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
INFANT HOLY, INFANT LOWLY
Music: Polish carol
Text: trans. Edith M. G. Reed
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
IN DULCI JUBILO (ORGAN SOLO)
Music: German carol
Arrangement: Andrew Unsworth
AWAY IN A MANGER
Music: William J. Kirkpatrick
Text: Anonymous
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
CHILDREN, GO WHERE I SEND THEE
African American spiritual
Arrangement: Ryan Murphy
THE SPOKEN WORD
“Our Silent Night”
SILENT NIGHT
Music: Franz Gruber
Text: Joseph Mohr; trans. John F. Young
The Spoken Word
Our Silent Night
December 15, 2024
By: Derrick Porter
It was Christmas Eve, 1818, in the small Austrian village of Oberndorf. Just after midnight in St. Nicholas Church, the carol “Silent Night” was performed for the first time. The words had been written two years earlier by a young priest, Joseph Mohr, who recognized the effects the Napoleonic Wars had on his congregants.1 These were dark and heavy times. But the wars had ended, and Joseph wrote from his heart the now famous words, “Silent night! Holy night! All is calm, all is bright.”2
Joseph’s words were, of course, written about a most holy night—the night of the birth of Jesus Christ! Yet, in a way, his words also invite us to look for and create our own moments that are quiet and still—moments when we purposely put the world’s pressures on hold; moments when we take time to reflect, to give thanks, and to be peacemakers; moments that are silent; moments that become holy.
Imagine what a silent night might have looked and felt like in that small Austrian village all those years ago. The night is calm and free from the pace and demands of a large city. A bright moon highlights the snow blanketing the earth, and a single candle burns in a room warmed by fire. For you and me, in a setting like that, what might we feel? What new thoughts and ideas might come? What invitations from heaven might we receive?
Holy moments are often created by the silent moments preceding them.
As we look forward to Christmas, let us search for our own silent and holy moments, our own moments of calm and bright. Then we can truly enjoy the real purpose of this magnificent season—to remember Him, the “Son of God, love’s pure light.” 3
1. For a detailed account of the history of the carol “Silent Night,” see www.stillenacht.at/en/.
2. “Silent Night,” Hymns, no. 204.
3. “Silent Night,” Hymns, no. 204.