Religious Christmas carols

There’s a sure-fire antidote for anyone who’s suffering from a case of “Christmas-commercialization” burnout. Thankfully, the message behind the meaning of Christmas can be found in any of a number of Christmas carols that have become firmly entrenched in the Christmas tradition over the centuries.

It’s easy to get the notion of Christmas carols confused with Christmas songs. The distinction is simple: By the most common definition, Christmas carols deal with religious concepts, while Christmas songs are more secular in nature. The best way to get a clearer picture is to consider the difference between the birth of Jesus and the arrival of Santa Claus. They’re certainly part of the same season, but in both history and substance, they’re as different as night and day.

Origins

The word “carol” is believed to have its roots in the word caroller, a French word referring to a circle dance accompanied by singers. It’s an apt description for the first carols, which actually were performed in pagan rituals celebrating the winter solstice, around the time we now associate with Christmas. As with many Christmas traditions, early Christians took the pagan traditions and gave them a new direction, focusing on religious themes.

The earliest Christmas carol was actually appeared in about 129 A.D., when a song called “Angel’s Hymn” was allowed to be sung during a Christmas service in Rome. Another documented instance of an early carol was performed in the Greek Orthodox Church in 760 A.D. Early carols were written in Latin, though, which wasn’t widely understood by the public and didn’t really lend itself to singalongs.

The carol took a giant leap forward in 1223, thanks to St. Francis of Assisi. With permission from the Pope, he began staging “Nativity plays” throughout Italy, telling the story of the birth of Jesus through a staged presentation featuring actors and wooden characters.  The songs were no longer in Latin, but tended to reflect whatever language was dominant in the region, and the public was encouraged to sing along.

As with many Christmas traditions, the carol gained popularity throughout Europe and became an integral part of English medieval music in the 15^th century. And, as with most Christmas traditions, the writing and performance of carols came to a sudden halt in 1647, when they were banned as part of the Reformation (though they were still often sung in secret).

Eventually, though, the practice took hold again in the 18th century, this time for good. In Victorian England, Christmas carols were no longer reserved for church rituals, but went into the streets with roving groups of carolers. Some of the best loved and most revered Christmas carols were written in the 1700s, and on into the 1800s.

“Silent Night”

Legend has it that one of the most popular carols was written on Christmas Eve in 1818, largely as a result of a damaged church organ. Scrambling at the last minute to put together music for the evening service, assistant pastor Joseph Mohr quickly scribbled some lyrics, and asked Franz Gruber, a friend and musician, to set them to music that didn’t require an organ. They sang the song “Silent Night” at Midnight Mass, accompanied only by a guitar and the choir and Gruber’s guitar.

A good portion of the story is true, except for the damaged church organ and the last-minute scribbling.  In fact, Mohr had actually written the words previously as a poem, and asked Gruber to set them to music on Christmas Eve in time to be performed at Mass that evening using only the guitar and choir.

“The Twelve Days of Christmas”

Arguably, no song has generated quite as much debate in recent years as “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” On the surface, it’s about the 12 days between Christmas on Dec. 25 and the Epiphany on Dec. 26, a nonsensical song about “12 drummers drumming, 11 pipers piping,” and so on. Many historians believe it was part of a common memory game in which a singer would begin with a verse; the next singer would sing that verse and add one; and so on, until a singer finally could no longer remember all the verses.

Other historians say the song is much more serious in its nature. From the mid-1500s until the early 1800s, any private or public religious practice by Catholics was outlawed. It has been suggested that the song was used as a memory aid for children to learn Catholic doctrine in secret, and that each verse represents a symbol of faith. For example, “10 lords a-leaping” represented the Ten Commandments, while “six geese a-laying” was a device to remember the six jars of water turned to wine by Jesus. “A partridge in a pear tree” is a reference to Jesus.

Well, at least it’s a catchy tune which – to complicate matters even more – is actually of French origin.

“Do You Hear What I Hear?”

The great majority of traditional Christmas carols were written in the 18th and 19th centuries, but “Do You Hear What I Hear?” has become a religious-themed favorite with a much later birth date – 1962. It’s actually not so much a Christmas carol as it is a peace hymn. French composer Noel Regney and lyricist Gloria Shayne crafted the song in response to the Cuban missile crisis, using religious imagery to drive home the point. Considering the time period, the lyric “Pray for peace, people everywhere” takes on added significance. By the most recent count, the song has been recorded more than 120 times by artists ranging from Robert Goulet to Celine Dion.