Chase The Kangaroo

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Saviour’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appear’d and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.
Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here come the wise men from the Orient land.
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friend.
He knows our need, to our weaknesses no stranger,
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King, Before Him lowly bend!
Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
His power and glory evermore proclaim.

 

Background

O Holy Night did not begin as a church hymn. It began as a poem, written for a local celebration, and it carries that origin in its language. Expansive, dramatic, and unafraid of scale, it approaches Christmas not as sentiment, but as interruption.

The text was written in 1843 by Placide Cappeau, a French poet and wine merchant, to commemorate the renovation of a church organ in Roquemaure, France. Cappeau was not especially devout, which matters. From the beginning, the song lived at the intersection of art, culture, and faith rather than safely inside church walls.

Several years later, the poem, originally titled Minuit, chrétiens (“Midnight, Christians”), was set to music by Adolphe Adam, a classically trained composer known primarily for opera and ballet. His sweeping, theatrical style gave the poem its unmistakable force.

Because of its origins and its musical character, the song was initially rejected by church authorities in France. It sounded too emotional. Too modern. Too unrestrained. But the people continued to sing it, and history sided with them.

The lyrics of O Holy Night do not linger over the manger as a sentimental scene. They frame the Incarnation as a cosmic event. The long ache of waiting gives way to sudden awakening. Heaven bends. Earth responds. The arrival of Christ is not private or quiet in its implications. It is decisive.

One line in particular secured the song’s enduring power:

“Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother.”

This was not poetic excess. In the nineteenth century, the verse became closely associated with abolitionist movements, especially in the United States. The Incarnation was understood not only as spiritual salvation, but as a declaration about human dignity. If God has entered human flesh, then no human life can be dismissed as expendable.

That is why O Holy Night has endured.
It is not a lullaby.
It is a proclamation.

If Christmas Day declares that God has come near, O Holy Night announces what that nearness sets in motion. The world is no longer the same. History has turned. Something irreversible has begun.