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Christmas Caroling

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Tracing back Christmas carols is a thorny business.  Several web sites credit Angels, from the realms of glory as the first carol delivered in church in 1857, but wiki digs much deeper, all the way back to the 4th century with hymns like Corde natus ex Parentis.  Wiki also notes that carols like Adeste Fideles (which I once had to memorize in Latin) date back to the 13th century.  But, the celebration of Christmas, as we know it today, is relatively new, and is primarily an outgrowth of the Second Awakening, emanating from England and spreading to America in the mid 19th century.   I leave you with the Three Tenors singing Adeste Fideles,

 

Merry Christmas!

Comments

  1. avrdsDecember 23, 2011 at 4:02 PM

    And old St. Nick was a saint and then ... an elf!

    http://thebrowser.com/interviews/bruce-forbes-on-christmas-history

    ReplyDelete
  2. James FergusonDecember 23, 2011 at 5:26 PM

    Nice site, av. Jon Stewart noted that the early Puritans considered the Christmas tree and other forms of Christmas pageantry sacrilegious, but that doesn't stop conservative pundits from bemoaning "holiday trees,"

    http://blogs.wpri.com/2011/12/07/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-on-ri-fox-and-holiday-trees/

    ReplyDelete
  3. avrdsDecember 23, 2011 at 5:33 PM

    I once saw an amazing planetarium show (in Montana) narrated by Charles Kuralt about the festival of the lights tied to the stars.

    It all goes back to the idea of bringing in greens and lighting candles, which I do every year along with millions of others, regardless of what they believe.

    Five Shillings for celebrating Christmas in Puritan New England:

    http://backstoryradio.org/happy-holidays-a-history-of-the-season/

    ReplyDelete

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