five | silence and divine laughter

Poem: Silent Night by Josef Mohr

I’ve always liked sad Christmas songs the best.

Something about the dramatics of songs such as “O Come O Come Emmanuel” helped me first understand there was something deeply sad yet deeply beautiful about the season of Advent. Long before I knew the words to describe what I was feeling, I used to get a weighty nervous-yet-thrilled pit in my stomach upon hearing the more somber Christmas songs on Christmas Eve candlelight services or in holiday plays, movies, and concerts. The more melodramatic the music, the more I felt a sense of the Christmas “spirit.” The jolly and upbeat songs never hit quite as hard. 

While the root of my love for serious and sad Christmas music may be my own dramatic personality, these songs and their poetic lyrics have been foundational to my understanding of what it looks like to cultivate an intentional season of Advent. The story of long awaited light illuminating through the darkness must (whether we like it or not) begin in the dark. 

One of the most famous “serious” Christmas songs is “Silent Night.” The song isn’t always performed and portrayed as a sad song, though. The song is often paired with a picturesque and heavenly image of snow falling on a winter night. 

Despite its tranquil image, “Silent Night” was written in the aftermath of a war when things were tough and days were dark. 

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The song was originally written by Josef Mohr, a catholic priest from Oberndorf bei Salzburg. Following the Napoleonic Wars, things were scarce and uncertain. Mohr wrote a poem titled “Stille Nacht” in German, penning the original lyrics to “Silent Night.” His poem was a celebration of the end of the war and the coming peace. 

His poem stayed dormant for two years until he found himself in need of a last-minute Christmas Eve mass carol in 1818 due to flooding which damaged the Church’s organ. On Christmas Eve, Mohr walked in the cold to a neighboring town to seek the help of his friend Franz Xaver Gruber who was a pastor and chorus director. Gruber put the poem to music, crafting the original melody of “Silent Night.” The hymn was finished by the midnight mass and performed by guitar due to the damaged organs.

“Stille Nacht” would slowly make its way around Austria and later the world. For many years, the origins of the song were unknown. There were theories that a famous composer had written the song, perhaps even someone like Mozart. The writer and composer of the song stayed unknown for many years until an original manuscript with Mohr’s name on it finally came to light.

While the original lyrics are slightly different from the ones we sing today, the emotion of the song remains the same. It was first written in a time of uncertainty and later put to music on a cold, Christmas Eve in a slight crisis. 

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“Silent night, holy night,

Shepherds just informed

By the angels’ hallelujah,

It rings out far and wide:

Christ the Savior is here!

Christ the Savior is here!

Silent night, holy night,

Son of God, oh how laughs

Love out of your divine mouth,

For now the hour of salvation strikes for us.

Christ, in Thy birth!

Christ, in Thy birth!”

-Original English translation of “Stille Nacht.”

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When reading the original lyrics of silent night, the line “oh how laughs love out of your divine mouth” struck me. At first, it seems ironic following a line about a silent and holy night.

Yet, I think that is the magic of “Silent Night.” It conveys the duality of the season: sorrowful yet rejoicing, waiting yet fulfilled, singing yet silent. 

This year, I first felt that duality and Christmas “spirit” when walking by Radio City Hall covered in Christmas lights while a million different Christmas tunes–both upbeat and theatrical. It was a few days before Thanksgiving and I had spent the previous few days processing a personal loss which was deeply saddening and likewise affected many people I care about. Transparently, I entered into Advent this year thinking a lot about grief. 

As I looked out to the glowing lights of 6th Avenue in the rain, I found myself filled with joy. The heaviness on my heart did not fade, but Christmas isn’t supposed to make all the bad things go away in an instant.

Instead, it offers a paradox: silence. Silence is often full of longing and inability to even speak. Yet silence is also a portrayal of the greatest sense of peace. 

Advent is often silent–full of waiting and wondering. But it is also the story of a hallelujah. Behind every still and meditative manger scene is a divine love laughing with joy because the hour has finally come.

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Read: A Brief History of ‘Silent Night’

Watch: Silent Night by Celtic Women

Listen: Silent Night (Original German lyrics)