Christmas Song Story: We Three Kings

Peter Cornelius, a German composer, wrote “The Three Kings” under the oritinal title “Die Könige” for a vocal soloist. The carol describes the visit of the Biblical Magi to the Infant Jesus during the Nativity and is also used as an Epiphany anthem.  It is also known by the title “Three Kings From Persian Lands Afar”. Cornelius wrote his first […]

Read more

Christmas Song Story: Mary’s Boy Child

“Mary’s Boy Child” is a Christmas song written by Jester Hariston in 1956. According to Wikipedia, a friend asked Hairston to write a song for a birthday party.  Hairston wrote the song with a calypson rhythm “because the people at the party would be mainly West Indians. The song’s original title was “He Pone and Chocolate Tea”, pone being a […]

Read more

Christmas Song Story: Jesus, the Light of the World

“Jesus, the Light of the World” was arranged by George D. Elderkin. It was first published with a collection of Christmas Carols in 1890 in “Gift of Finest Wheat”. He seems to have arranged this composition from Charles Wesley’s hymn “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.”  Elderkin’s arrangement drew upon the first two lines of Wesley’s hymns in stanzas 1, 2, […]

Read more

Christmas Song Story: Gabriel’s Message

“Gabriel’s Message” is a Christmas folk carol that tells of Gabriel’s announcement to the Virgin Mary that she would become the mother of the Christ. The song is also known as “The angel Gabriel from heaven came” from the first line and based on the passage from Luke 1:46-55. For this reason the text is known as “The Magnificat.” The […]

Read more

The Nativity by Dianne Marie Andre

Mary, mother of Jesus. My heart can barely grasp what an extraordinary woman she must have been to be chosen the mother of the world’s Savior. I imagine her perfect, without sin. Though this is unlikely, God blessed her above all women. Yet His path for Mary wasn’t easy. To avoid disgrace as an unwed mother, God instructed her fiancée […]

Read more

Christmas Hymn: Sussex Carol

The “Sussex Carol” is a popular Christmas Carol in Britain. Luke Wadding, a 17th Century Irish Bishop, first published the song in 1684. It is unknown whether he wrote the song himself or had recorded it from earlier coposers. The text and tune were discovered by Cecil Sharp and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The men wrote the song down as sung […]

Read more

Far From Home Christmas by E.V. Sparrow

In 1975, I accepted Jesus Christ’s work on the cross for my salvation, and a few months later, my parents sold my childhood home. We moved into a new community for people over 55. Because of my parents’ ages, they allowed me in. The promise of the clubhouse pool helped sell me on the idea and get excited. The day […]

Read more

Christmas Season Must Watch List by Karin Beery

I love the holiday season. It’s not just Christmas—it’s the love, anticipation, grace, and thankfulness that fills our house every November, December, and January. I start decorating the first weekend of November, and I have to pace myself when it comes to wrapping presents, donating gifts, and baking (and baking and baking) so I don’t do it all in one […]

Read more

Christmas Song: The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy

I have found two different stories for this hymn. The first states it is believed “The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy” was written Jamaican singer-songwriter Oswald Dunbar sometime in the early 1960s. Legend states he adapted the lyrics from an earlier Jamaican folk song “Livvy’s Song” to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. The text follows the story as […]

Read more

Christmas Hymn Story: In Dulci Jubilo

“In dulci jubilo” means in sweet rejoicing in Latin. The original text is believed to have been written around 1328 by Heinrich Seuse, a German mystic. According to folklore, “Seuse heard angels sing these words and joined them in a dance of worship.” The tune first appears in a manuscript dating around 1400. Many historians believe the melody may have […]

Read more

Christmas Hymn Story: In the Bleak Mid-Winter

English poet Christina Rosetti published a poem under the title “A Christmas Carol” in January 1872 issue of Scribner’s Monthly. Composer Gustav Holst composed a setting to her words in 1906. The new hymn appeared in The English Hymnal under the title “In the Bleak Midwinter”. In 1909, Harold Darke composed an anthem for the piece, which is widely performed […]

Read more

Christmas Song Story: Star of the East

Star of the East was originally named “Stern über Bethlehem”. In 1883, composer Amanda Kennedy composed a melody “Star of the Sea”. George Cooper, a New York lyricists, wrote the lyrics in 1890. The song is not the same as the folk carol “Star in the East” or English carol “Star of the East”. Judy Garland recorded the song in 1941.

Read more

Christmas Song Story: Shepherds Arise

Shepherds Arise! Be Not Afraid is first recorded by a church in Dorset England. The carol dates back to the 19th century. The carol was first published in the 1926 A Collection of Dorset Carols.  The book was published by William Adair Pickard-Cambridge, a classics scholar and organists, who obtained several manuscripts from the early 19th Century. The author of Shepherd’s Arise in unknown and was […]

Read more

Christmas Song Story: Once in Royal David’s City

The carol originally appeared as a poem written by Cecil Frances Alexander. The poem was first published in the 1848 Hymns for Little Children. The poem tells the story of the nativity and was combined in a collection with other well-known hymns such as “All Things Bright and Beautiful” and “There is a Green Hill Far Away”. The following year, Henry […]

Read more
1 2 3 6