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The Inspiring Story of O Holy Night

8 December 2025 Hits:156

‘O Holy Night’ is my favourite Christmas carol, so I’ve really enjoyed exploring its history. Here’s what I learnt: ‘O Holy Night’ was written in 1847 by a Frenchman called Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure.

A priest who recognised Placide’s writing talent asked him to compose a poem for Christmas mass, so he started thinking about the birth of Jesus. Inspired by that, he wrote “Cantique de Noel.” Placide was so pleased with the poem that he decided it should be set to music. And so, he asked a friend, Adolphe Adam, to do the honours.

Adam was a renowned classical musician and opera singer who composed numerous works worldwide, but he agreed to write music to accompany the beautiful words. The song was performed a few weeks later at a Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

Banned

Over the years, “Cantique de Noel” became popular in France and was sung at many Christmas services. However, when Placide Cappeau completely left the church to join a socialist movement, and it was revealed that Adolphe Adam was a Jew, the French Catholic church leaders decided that “Cantique de Noel” was unsuitable for church services because of its “total absence of the spirit of religion.”

Even though the church no longer allowed the song in its services, the French people continued to sing it.

Abolition

A decade later, an American writer and minister, John Sullivan Dwight, recognised something in the song that moved him beyond the story of Christ’s birth. Dwight was an abolitionist who fought for an end to slavery in America, and he strongly connected with the lines of the third verse.

Truly, he taught us to love one another;

His law is love, and his gospel is peace.

Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother;

And in his name all oppression shall cease.

This verse reflected Dwight’s view of slavery in the South. He published his English translation of “O Holy Night” in his magazine, and the song quickly gained popularity in America, especially in the North during the Civil War.

Back in France, the song stayed banned by the church for nearly twenty years.

Folklore?

Legend has it that on Christmas Eve 1871, amidst fierce fighting between the armies of Germany and France during the Franco-Prussian War, a French soldier suddenly leapt out of his muddy trench. Both sides stared at the seemingly crazed man who lifted his eyes to the skies and began singing ‘O Holy Night’. Then a German soldier stepped into the open and responded to the Frenchman’s song with Martin Luther’s “From Heaven Above to Earth I Come.”

The story goes that the fighting stopped for the next twenty-four hours while the men on both sides observed a temporary peace in honour of Christmas Day. Perhaps this story had a part in the French church once again embracing ‘O Holy Night’ in Christmas services.

First Radio Broadcast

But the story behind the song went on. Years later, on Christmas Eve 1906, Reginald Fessenden—a 33-year-old Canadian scientist and former chief chemist for Thomas Edison—did something long thought impossible. Using a new type of generator, Fessenden spoke into a microphone, and for the first time in history, a human voice was broadcast over the airwaves.

Fessenden, a pastor’s son, read the Christmas story from Luke’s gospel: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly, a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.”

I find it remarkable that the first words ever broadcast came from the Bible.

Shocked radio operators on ships and amazed wireless owners at newspapers were astounded as their usual, coded signals, heard through tiny speakers, were interrupted by a professor reading the Christmas story. To those who caught this broadcast, it must have seemed like a miracle to hear a voice somehow transmitted to those far away.

Fessenden was probably unaware of the impact he was having on ships and in offices; he couldn’t have realised that people were rushing to their wireless units to catch this Christmas Eve miracle. After finishing his recitation of the birth of Christ, Fessenden picked up his violin and played ‘O Holy Night,’ the first song ever sent through the air via radio waves.

Amazing God

Since ‘O Holy Night’ was first sung at a small Christmas mass in 1847, the song has been sung millions of times in churches across the globe. And since the moment a handful of people first heard it on the radio, the carol has become one of the most recorded and performed spiritual songs.

This remarkable piece, commissioned by a forgotten parish priest, composed by a poet of questionable faith, given soaring music by a Jewish composer who did not celebrate Jesus’ birth, and introduced to Americans as both a reminder of the sinful nature of slavery and the story of the birth of a Saviour, has become one of the most beautiful, inspiring pieces of music ever created.

The Lord can work in amazing ways to see His truth proclaimed. I hope this truth inspires you as well.

 

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