Sadly the young assistant pastor strolled through
the snow-covered village of Oberndorf, Austria.
In a few days it would be Christmas Eve, but
Josef Mohr knew there would be no music in his
church to herald the great event.
Pausing,
Reverend Mohr gazed at the scattered lights in
the village. The sight of this peaceful town,
wrapped in a blanket of snow, stirred his
imagination. Surely it was on such a clear and
quiet night as this that the hosts of angels sang
out the glorious news that the Saviour had been
born.
The
young cleric sighed heavily as he thought,
"If only we here in Oberndorf could
celebrate the birth of Jesus with glorious music
like the shepherds heard on that wonderful
night!" Standing
there, his mind filled with visions of the first
Christmas, Josef Mohr suddenly became aware that
the disappointment was fading from his heart; in
its place surged a great joy. Vividly, he saw the
manger, carved from a mountain side; he saw Mary
and Joseph and the Child; he saw the strangers
who had been attracted by the light of the great
star. The image seemed to shape itself into the
words of a poem he had written in 1816 when he
was assigned to a pilgrim church in the small
Alpine village of Mariapfarr, Austria. The
next day he showed the poem to Franz Gruber, the
church organist, who said, "These words
should be sung at Christmas, but what could we
use for accompaniment? Your guitar?"
The
curate replied, "Like Mary and Joseph in the
stable, we must be content with what God provides
for us." Franz
Gruber studied the poem, then softly strummed the
melody that came to him. Next he put the words to
the melody and sang them. When he finished, his
soul was ablaze with its beauty. Mr. Gruber's
beautiful music added the final touch to the poem
Mohr had written two years earlier.
On Christmas Eve, 1818, in a small Austrian village,
the Oberndorf choir, accompanied only by a
guitar, sang for the first time the immortal hymn
that begins, "Silent Night . . . . Holy
Night."
There are some special people
We meet along life's way
Who make our journey brighter
By things they do and say,
And because you're that kind of person,
May your Christmas Day be blessed
With all God's special, loving gifts
That make you happiest.