Silent Night, Holy Night December 16, 2011
Posted by nrhatch in Art & Photography, Nature.comments closed
Some Christmas Carols are exciting.
Fa la la la la la la la la!
Others fill us with Peace, Hope, Love, and Light.
Silent Night . . . Holy Night
All is Calm . . . All is Bright
On Wednesday, we went to the Island library for a presentation of Christmas Stories . . . written by Dylan Thomas (A Child’s Christmas in Wales), Truman Capote (A Christmas Memory), and Grace Paley (The Loudest Voice) and performed by the Asolo Repertory Theatre Guild Play Readers.
The stories added a heart-warming, nostalgic touch to our celebration this year . . . especially the last “story” they shared about The Christmas Truce in Flanders Field during World War I.
The Asolo Play Readers based their account of the WWI truce on soldiers’ letters about what transpired on Christmas Eve and Day between Germans on one side of the trenches and British and French soldiers on the other.
As the sun set on Christmas Eve, the guns fell silent.
The Germans sent a chocolate cake over to the Brits with a request for a temporary cease fire. Brittish and French soldiers agreed and sent gifts of tobacco across enemy lines to the German troops.
German soldiers up and down the line sang O Tannenbaum while holding aloft miniature Christmas trees sparkling with glowing candles.
After the Germans sang Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht in German, the British joined in to sing Silent Night in English:
Silent night, Holy night!
Darkness flies. All is light!
“Composed in a few short hours on Christmas Eve in 1818, to fill an urgent need for a special Christmas song in a small Bavarian church, this exquisite carol is a Yuletide favorite in practically every language in the Christian world.” [Cherished Christmas Carols, p. 1]
Shepherds hear the angels sing:
Hallelujah . . . hail the King!
Watching the twinkling lights on our trees, or the moonlight peering in the windows, allows us to bask in Peace on Earth . . . Goodwill toward Men.
For a festive glimpse at Christmas from a bygone era . . . Missouri Town 1855: A Christmas Celebration (Third Hand Art).
Need some ideas for giving (or receiving and reading) this Christmas . . . check out Maggie’s picks for Five Books That Would Make Great Christmas Gifts.
Spirit Lights The Way 