O Come, All Ye Faithful
Each Tuesday in Advent, we look at the story behind a beloved Christmas song.
O Come, All Ye Faithful
The Christmas truce on Flanders Field in Belgium is a timeless testimony to the power of the birth of Christ. On the western front of World War I, a brief, unofficial cessation of hostilities occurred between British and German forces. It began on Christmas Eve 1914, when German soldiers in their trenches began singing "Silent Night." The British stopped firing and began singing English carols. Soon the troops were greeting each other across no-man's-land and exchanging small gifts. According to the written account of an unknown British soldier, the next morning, December 25, 1914, was foggy and very cold. Neither side began firing; the truce held. Some British troops went over to the German side to help bury a slain soldier and then returned for a Christmas worship service. "How we did sing, 'O Come, All Ye Faithful,'" he wrote his family. "I never expected to shake hands with Germans between the firing lines on Christmas Day, and I don't suppose you thought of us doing so. So after a fashion we've enjoyed our Christmas." The next day the war resumed.
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, o come ye,
to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him,
born the king of angels;
Sing, choirs of angels,
sing in exultation;
O sing, all ye citizens of heaven
above!
Glory to God,
all glory in the highest;
Yea, Lord, we greet Thee,
born this happy morning;
Jesus, to Thee be
all glory given;
Word of the Father,
now in flesh appearing.
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.
"For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." -- Luke 2:11
Today's reading is from Near to the Heart of God by Robert J. Morgan.
© 2023 Created by Raliegh Jones Jr..
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