The most blessed

Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

Luke 1:41 - 42

What can it mean for human history when God chooses to become like us? Not like us in some ways, but in every way. He entered his own creation as a helpless infant. He was fed by his human mother, learned to recognise her voice, uttered first words and made first steps. He was taught to love with an open heart. He was introduced to the landscape of the Holy Land and heard the stories of his Hebrew people. He grew, over time, to come to understand who he was and what he was called to be. No doubt this child Jesus along the way, said or did things he may have regretted, been hurt by what others may have said, fallen, been saddened, bereaved, admonished, corrected, admired, celebrated. To be anything less, is to be less than human.

What purpose do the infancy narratives in Luke and Matthew’s have? Why are they so plainly different from each other? What do they tell us about the mystery that is the Incarnation?

We know that the narratives are later constructions in their respective communities and that they respond to very specific circumstances in those communities. The three Magi of Matthew, for example, emphasise the Christian mission to the gentiles and the primacy of Israel among the nations, how these men from foreign lands are able to ‘read’ the stars, follow the star to Bethlehem and then worship the child as Lord. The choice of Bethlehem as the child’s birthplace has already been determined by the prophets (Micah 5:1). The flight into Egypt and the Holy Family’s return to Nazareth mirrors the Hebrew’s migration to and subsequent flight from Egypt. Luke uses a rich tapestry of images from the scriptures, his Jesus is wrapped in swaddling clothes like a child born to poverty, his shepherds remind us of the church ready for the coming of the Lord, awake and watching, again mirroring the life of Israel as it awaits its own saviour, the Christ.

What feelings for her son Jesus did Mary possess that each of you has not felt at the birth of your own children? What heartfelt joy, what protectiveness, that flows from deep within us. You each know the healing and warmth that comes from a newborn child. As you hold your child you dream of futures unknown, of potentials yet to be unleashed, of returns that promise to be savoured.

Were Mary and Joseph aware of what they were heading into? I cannot imagine they knew anything more about parenting than we did when we became parents. Were their moments of satisfaction and relief accompanied by choirs of angels and visits from shepherds and Magi? In reality I don’t know, and for me they are just incidental to this wondrous and most beautiful and godly sacrament we call the miracle of life. Jesus has come amongst us. Come, Lord Jesus, come.

Wishing all of you a happy and holy Christmas.

Peter Douglas

‘Silent Night’ turns 200 this year. Is it the greatest Christmas song ever?

Edward W Schmidt SJ

The hills around Salzburg are alive, we hear, “alive with the sound of music.” Young and old, the people sing and hum and strum. The water in the brooks laughs as it trips and falls downstream. Church chimes sigh with the breeze.

This music, we also hear, has been sung for 1,000 years. Maybe. But one song—probably the most famous—is celebrating only 200 years. On Christmas Eve 1818, in the church of St. Nicholas in Oberndorf near Salzburg, “Stille Nacht” (“Silent Night”) was sung for the first time.

The words to “Silent Night” were the work of the Rev. Joseph Mohr, a young priest in Oberndorf. He wrote them in 1816 as a reflection on peace after a summer of violence in Salzburg. On Christmas Eve two years later, he asked his friend Franz Xaver Gruber, a schoolteacher in the neighboring town of Arnsdorf and also the organist in Oberndorf, to set his words to music. Gruber did so, and together that evening at Christmas Eve Mass, the two performed “Silent Night” for the gathered faithful, Mohr singing and Gruber playing the guitar, since the church organ was not working. “Silent Night” was an immediate sensation.

The story of the carol’s origin was lost for a couple of decades, even as Tyrolean choristers performed it across Europe. In Berlin, people tried to trace its origin. In 1854, the Royal Hofkapelle (court orchestra) in Berlin contacted the Archabbey of St. Peter’s in Salzburg to research the composer of the carol. It was thought the composer might have been Johann Michael Haydn (1737-1806), Joseph Haydn’s younger brother. Felix Gruber, Franz Xaver Gruber’s son, was a boy chorister in St. Peter’s at this time. He directed the query to his father. This made Franz Xaver Gruber aware of the importance of the carol, and he wrote a statement about it, “Authentic Origination of the Composition of the Christmas Carol ‘Silent Night’,” and sent it to Berlin. The Stille Nacht Museum in Hallein, near Salzburg, in the house where Franz Xaver Gruber lived for 28 years, keeps two drafts of this letter, thus documenting the creation of the carol in Salzburg as well.

The carol has been translated into some 300 languages. The first English translation appeared in New York City in 1851.

On Sept. 29, 2018, commemorative exhibits about the carol opened in Salzburg and eight neighboring towns. The exhibit in the Salzburg Museum brings together documents and artifacts relating to the carol. It has copies of Gruber’s letter and early scores.

The first room, the Christmas Room, shows how Advent and Christmas have been celebrated in the area. Next is a room with music boxes, metal records, 78s and Decca’s recording of the song by Bing Crosby, as well as versions by Mahalia Jackson and the Trapp Family Singers. A guide at the museum explains that Bing Crosby’s recording was the best-selling song of all time from its introduction in 1948 until 1997, when Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind” tribute to Princess Diana topped it.

Another room shows the history of the song in films; among them are “Das Unsterbliche Lied” (“The Immortal Song”) from 1934; “The Legend of Silent Night” from 1968; “Merry Christmas” from 2005; and “Stille Nacht” from 2012.

The carol was used to build up spirits of soldiers getting together for a short Christmas respite from fighting in 1914. In 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill stood on the balcony of the White House and joined the crowd gathered in front to sing the carol.

The Salzburg exhibit also shows how the song was used for commercial and propaganda purposes. One gruesome rendition changed the words to tell how on this “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht, Alles ruht, Einer wacht” (“Silent night, holy night, all is calm, one is awake) and then asserts that this one is “Adolph Hitler” who “führt uns zu Größe, zu Ruhm und zum Glück…” (“leads us to greatness, to fame and to fortune…”). Tributes this year include a six pack of beer with one of the carol’s six verses on each bottle. There is also a potent drink named Stille Nacht marked “feel good.”

The exhibit’s last room is a place of quiet marked with a sign: “Laut sein ist cool! Still sein auch.” (“It’s cool to be loud. Also to be quiet.”) This beautiful Christmas carol brings stillness with its soothing melody and gentle words, “Sleep in heavenly peace!”

Other resources:

Silent Night: A Companion to the Song, by Thomas Hochradner and Michael Neureiter (eds.) (Salzburg: Verlag Anton Pustet, 2018).

“All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914” by Peter Rothstein is an a cappella musical about the moment when enemy soldiers came out of the trenches and laid down their arms to celebrate Christmas together, a respite from the horrors of war.

This article also appeared in print, under the headline "The sounds of silence," in the 24 December 2018 issue of America