O Holy Night

"O Holy Night" ("Cantique de Noël") is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem "Minuit, chrétiens" (Midnight, Christians) by Placide Cappeau (1808–1877). Cappeau, a wine merchant and poet, had been asked by a parish priest to write a Christmas poem. Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight, editor of Dwight's Journal of Music, created a singing edition based on Cappeau's French text in 1855. In both the French original and in the two familiar English versions of the carol, the text reflects on the birth of Jesus and of mankind's redemption.

Read more about O Holy Night:  Lyrics, Notable Renderings

Famous quotes containing the words holy and/or night:

    Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.
    Bible: New Testament, Matthew 1:18,19.

    What is the good of a man and he
    Alone and alone, with a speckled shin?
    I would that I drank with my love on my knee,
    Between two barrels at the inn.
    Oro, oro!
    To-morrow night I will break down the door.
    William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)