""And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary, His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh."" Matthew 2:11
A lot of Christian songs have stories. Even the Christmas Carols. John Francis Wade wrote "O Come All Ye Faithful" in 1743. Under persecution he had fled England as streams of other Catholics did, to France and Portugal. At age 32 he produced a copy of a Latin Christmas carol beginning with the phrase "Adeste Fidelis, Laeti triumphantes." Seven original hand-copied manuscripts of this Latin hymn have been found, all of them bearing Wade's signature. He was a renowned copyist of musical scores. As Catholics returned to Britain after Wade had passed away they brought his beloved hymn with them. Another Catholic, an Anglican convert, by the name of Rev. Frederick Oakeley came across the Latin version and after several awkward attempts finally, in 1845, translated more accurately into English, the opening phrase as "O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant." This caught on quickly and spread as a favorite among Protestants and Catholics.
So, two Catholic Englishmen 100 years apart corroborated on what is easily one of the Top Ten Christmas Carols of all time. When you sing "O Come Let us Adore Him" the next time, remember their story and that all Christian music has a story of real life behind it.
Blessed by this,
Pastor Fred
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