Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!
I am sure that you guessed the title of this post is in German. That is because this song was originally written in German. It is none other than Silent Night. This song has been recorded more than any other song in history. It also is the song at the forefront of one of my favorite historical events of all time. In 1818, Joseph Mohr was placed in charge of the music for Christmas Eve Mass at his church, St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, Austria. He had spent months planning every detail. As he made last-minute preparations, he discovered a horrible problem. The organ wouldn't play. He climbed underneath fiddling with the keys, stops, pedals, and anything he could possibly think of to fix it. He realized there was no fixing it. What was he going to do? Christmas Eve midnight mass was only hours away! He stopped and prayed for God to help him come up with a plan. That was when he remembered he had written a 6 stanza Christmas poem inspired by a walk from his grandfather's hom