O Holy Night – A Story of Triumph out of Tragedy – in Five Tableaux
Tableau I
“Bang!”
The shocking sound of a gunshot pierced the atmosphere of the quiet French neighborhood. A haunting quiet followed the unexpected explosion. And then the wail of shock, pain, and terror replaced it. Two little boys, best friends at 8-years-old, had been exploring and playing as little boys do. They made forts, marched, and ran. Finding the gun was an extra surprise. And then it went off. One boy sat there in disbelief and fear. The other little boy turned white as snow and slowly sank into unconsciousness. Blood poured from his sleeve, and his little hand was obliterated. The adults ran towards the screams, found the boy, and scooped him up. Doctors tended to the child to stop the bleeding. But the hand couldn’t be repaired, and if it got infected, it could take his life. And so, the little boy Placide lost his hand that day. This was the tragedy that led to unimaginable triumphs ahead.
With the loss of the hand, perhaps a future occupation was also gone. Placide’s father was a successful barrel maker. This was a job that required strength and skill. The future seemed dim. But Jacque Brignon, the father of Placide’s little friend, felt sorrow and compassion for all that had happened. To make amends, he offered to pay for young Placide’s education.
Perhaps Placide would have made a fine barrel maker if things were different. Instead, he became a highly educated and gifted student of literature and law. He also gained enough confidence in himself to take up his father’s other occupation – wine making and sales. Placide was able to support himself in that profession. As a bonus, he was also becoming successful as a poet and well-known for his literary achievements. So well-known that he even won a political office. What could have been a tragedy actually took the young boy down a different path that he might not have taken otherwise.
TABLEAU II
Being a parish priest in France was very difficult in the 19th century. There was always upheaval and politics, even within the church itself. The pastor of the church of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist felt like he had just lived through a particularly difficult time. The two-hundred-year-old structure had been literally falling apart. But he had managed to restore the roof and keep the rest of the structure up and functional. It was the old organ that had given him the most fits. But after years of saving, scrounging, and fundraising, he finally had the funds to restore the organ to its proper glory. He provided his parishioners with something beautiful to accompany their worship.
In 1843 he had finally done it. The organ was restored and beautiful. It played majestically and all of the parish was proud of their new instrument. To celebrate, the priest decided to have a poem commissioned to mark the occasion. He thought of no better poet than his friend and favorite wine merchant, Placide Cappeau.
Placide was very fond of the local priest. They often chatted about this and that. But Placide was a fallen-away Catholic. Some even considered him to be an atheist. Still, he remembered his catechism lessons of old. He told his friend that he would be happy to take on the task. He assured him it would be ready for Christmas.
Inspired and happy to have a chance to flex his poetic skills, he read the Gospel of St. Luke before starting a carriage ride to Paris. That was apparently all it took to get the creativity flowing. By the time he reached his destination, he had the entire poem written. He called it, Cantique de Noel.
Placide was thrilled with how the poem turned out. He decided to ask his friend, Adolph Adam, to set it to music. Mr. Adam was a successful composer. He composed several orchestral pieces and some ballets. But this would be one of his very few religious works. Mr. Adams knew secular music and as a Jew, he was familiar with that genre. This would be a little different for him, but he accepted the challenge.
In 1847, the song we know as O Holy Night was sung by Miss Emily Laure. She was a renowned soprano. The parishioners loved it. Very shortly afterwards, the citizens were singing this lovely new hymn, and it became very popular.
TABLEAU III
Unfortunately, the powers that be in the French church eventually found out that this popular new hymn was written by an atheist with socialist sympathies and composed by a Jew! It was deemed inappropriate to sing at church and was banned.
But the people kept singing it. In 1855 John Sullivan Dwight translated it into English, and it was brought over to America. It became quite popular among abolitionists because of the third verse (added by Dwight):
Truly He taught us to love one another
His law is love and His gospel is peace
Chains He shall break
For the slave is our brother
And in His Name
All oppression shall cease…
Tableau IV
On December 24, 1871, young soldiers sat shivering on opposite sides of the battle ground. Germany and France were in the midst of the Franco-Prussian War. Cold, slightly damp, afraid and homesick, the young men reminisced about Christmas Eves of the past, about being with their families, and attending church services with loved ones. Many wondered how their lives had turned to bring them to this sad and desolate place. Many also wondered if they would ever celebrate Christmas Eve again.
Perhaps driven by fear, perhaps by a bravery as an afront to the possible terrors awaiting him, a young French man jumped out of the safety of cover and started singing. His voice was shaky at first. But the words and tune were easily recognizable. It was “Canique de Noel!”
Minuit! Chrétien, c’est l’heure solennelle
Où l’homme Dieu descendit jusqu’à nous
Pour effacer la tache originelle
Et de son père arrêter le courroux…
The young man finished the first verse and then, with more confidence, went into the second.
Astonished that no one had shot at him, the soldier disappeared as silently as he had come.
Then something happened that was even more miraculous. From the other side arose a German chorus of Martin Luther’s “From Heaven Above to Earth I Come.”
For the next 24 hours, both sides ceased their hostilities. They celebrated Christmas as best they could in that time and place.
Tableau V
Boring.
and sad
and a little bit lonely.
That’s what it felt like to be onboard a Navy Boat during Christmas Eve. There was little to do. It was just the routine stuff. It was enough to stay busy. But it wasn’t enough to stop wondering what was happening back home on Christmas Eve. But at least it was cold and the wind was strong. The men had to endure the never-ending cold and stormy night. The boat kept rocking up and down, sometimes a little violently.
There was a little something to look forward to. A notification in Morse Code had come over the wireless to expect a very special transmission at 9:00 p.m. The telegrapher wondered what it could be. He sat there ready to receive whatever was sent.
History was made that night. The telegrapher sat poised to write down the message. Instead of the steady and familiar tap of dots and dashes, a very clear man’s voice came out instead.
“Good Evening. This is Professor Reginald Fessenden, speaking to you from Brant Rock, Massachusetts.”
The telegrapher, and anyone else who managed to wander in, heard a recording of Handel. This was followed by Professor Fessenden playing O Holy Night on the violin, with finally a passage from the bible about the Birth of Jesus.
Several ships on the Eastern Coast heard the transmission that Christmas Eve. History was made and AM radio was born.
To the men on that sea, that Christmas Eve, it was everything. It was a modern miracle that they were part of. It was a touch of home. There was also a passage from the bible to remind them of the Christ Child.
And the little hymn that was commissioned by a parish priest, written by a cripple, composed by a Jew, been the point of so much division in Europe and in the United States, was a part of that history.
And the world has been blessed by this beautiful Christmas Carol – a triumph forged out of all those smaller tragedies.