ADVENT 1, YEARNING FOR PEACE – “O Holy Night”

As we head into Advent in an increasingly contentious world … might the answer be a simple song?

A decade ago, a Saturday Night Live skit featured a family falling out over political and social differences at a Thanksgiving dinner — only to be saved when a little girl plays Adele’s then-new breakaway song, “Hello:”

Hello from the other side
I must’ve called a thousand times 
To tell you I’m sorry, for everything that I’ve done
But when I call you never seem to be home

Hello from the outside
At least I can say that I’ve tried 
To tell you I’m sorry, for breaking your heart
But it don’t matter, it clearly doesn’t tear you apart anymore

A song has stopped fighting before

You can feel the pain in the song; the scene is a parody of hope. But it’s not the first time a song has been hailed as a solution to fighting.  They say that on Christmas Eve during the Franco-Prussian war, a French soldier left the safety of the trenches and walked unarmed onto the battlefield. Then he began to sing:

O holy night!
The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till he appear’d and the soul felt its worth.….

Soldiers on both sides lay quiet, listening. Soon he reached 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
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name

Fall on your knees…

Legend has it that at this point, a German soldier joined him, singing another hymn of Jesus’ coming. Arms were laid down and peace observed for a day in honor of Christmas.

True or not, this points to truth

This story may seem as unlikely as the “Hello” skit, but there’s a reason it has endured. The “sin and error,” the chains and oppression, the dysfunction and fighting we all experience truly are solved in the coming of Jesus. As we enter Advent, the Church leads us to contemplate the world without God, to remember our “chains” – in order to better appreciate the freedom we have in Christ. The mass readings all this past week juxtaposed the fear of tyranny with the hope we have because Jesus has won the victory and he will come in glory. We begin Advent longing for a savior—all the time knowing that he will come.

“O Holy Night” isn’t technically an Advent hymn, but it captures the spirit of Week 1:

Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till he appear’d and the soul felt its worth.….

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His name all oppression shall cease

Listen to Kitty Cleveland’s lovely rendition of this hymn and allow the words to draw you into a longing for Christ.

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Each post in this Advent series features a different Advent or Christmas carol, all of which can be found on Kitty Cleveland’s CD, O Holy Night.

Coming next:

• Advent 2, Expecting a Savior: Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming

 

 

 

© 2015 Sarah Christmyer. Updated 2025.