The Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-12-22, Page 1614r tif Ittr :ttir 20: 21( 20: :A* :Or f. :40 22: :01 24f: 10.1- .10"„ " I 1 21if 241 :4f 214
Most Christmas
songs are
traditional
0 n the afternoon of Christmas
Eve in 1818, in a tiny village
high in the Austrian Alps,
Joseph Nohr, the local Catholic
priest, wrote some appropriate stanzas
for the season.
The Church pipe organ had given out
and could not be repaired in time for that
evening, so the church organist, Franz
Gruber, wrote,,a simple tune for Mohr's
words, set for a tenor, a bass, and two
guitars.
That very evening at the midnight ser-
vice, Silent Night was heard for the first
time... and still is heard every Christmas
Eve in nearly every Christian church all
around the world. Silent Night is the most
beloved piece of Christmas music ever
written.
Silent Night
Silent night! Holy night!
All is calm, all is bright,
Round yon Virgin, mother and child,
Holy infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Silent night! Holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight.
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia
Christ the Saviour is born.
Christ the Saviour is born.
Silent night! Holy night!
Son of God, loves pure light.
Radiant beams from Thy holy face.
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth,
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth.
It is believed the carol Angels We Have
Heard On High came from a custom in
the south of France. Shepherds there
were in the habit of calling to one another
on Christmas Eve, each from his own hill
and across the neighboring peaks, to the
other shepherds in the area.
They shouted or sang, "Gloria in ex-
celsis Deo, gloria in excelsis Deo", just
as the angels might have announced the
birth of Christ.
The traditional tune used by the
shepherds - probably a late medieval
Latin chorale - is still the chorus of
Angels We Have Heard On High. The text
and the music for the verses date from
the 18th century. The verses and the
chorus were first published together in
1855.
Angels We Have Heard
on High
Angels we have heard on high,
Sweetly singing o'er the plains
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains.
Gloria in excelsis Deo,
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous songs prolong?
What the Gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your
heav'nly song?
Gloria in excelsis Deo,
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
' Come to Bethlehem and see
Himwhose birth the angels sing;
Come adore on bended knee
Christ, the Lord,
our new-born King.
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
GODERIC/rI SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1987—PAGE 15B
NOEL!
Peter S.Madwan 4144
Insurance
38 St David St
Goderich
524-9531
'411111111
Have a Safe and Haptpy ristmas'
Bringing You
Season's Greetings
Warmest Wishes
Thank you for your
patronage, and we
wish our friends a
Merry Christmas.
May the serenity and the joy
of the Christmas season
inspire you with the spirit of
love and peace.
:4i 2g. :40". 20r 2$r 141: 7.*: Ar 00: 7.4r r
At Christmastime
BY CAMILLA R. BITTLE
At Christmas time I was small,
We placed the figure in the
stall
(Mary, Blessed Babe, and all)
Hung mistletoe high in the hall,
Made calendars for kitchen walls,
And decked our tree with shiny balls.
On Christmas Eve beside the fire,
We gathered found the wicker chair
To hear our mother's mother read
Of sugarplums that danced in air,
Of moonlight on new -fallen snow;
' And this we knew — as children know
Was evidence of love below
The great high are of heaven's dome,
Of Christmas secured at home.
The cold — a stabbing, piercing knife,
The stars — small, dazzling flecks of
light;
Our breath rose up in columns white,
And, oh, the still of Christmas night!
Each year we did the very same,
Wrote cards, made lists, our cousins
came.
On Christmas Eve out caroling,
Our cheeks bared to the icy sting
Of snowing wind, grew tingling.
We sang as loud as we could sing.
I ask myself — what did it mean,
The stockings, tinsel, branches green,
The smell of oranges and pie,
The wreaths, the bells, the winter sky
Where once a star shone for The Child,
Whose birth we hailed with praises
mild
While overhead the Milky Way
Was passage for Old Santa's sleigh.
We still hang up the mistletoe.
My children's faces rosy grow,
Their boots squeak on the hard -packed
snow.
Their eyes with eagerness will glow,
And I'm the only one who'll know
That it was different long ago.
The tree still flaunts its branches.
The sky is jet, the stars wink light.
There is a hush to Christmas night;
The songs are still sung out with might
And Santa's toys, a dazzling sight.
The only thing that's changed is me.
It's not a fir with lights I see,
For only God can make a tree —
This is what I see.
And children's eyes can only be
Small windows on eternity.
-And so with gifts, and cousins small,
And so with garlands in the hall,
And firelight's shadows on the wall —
God's handiwork, that's all.
Yet in this season of our joy
There are still those who fell a toy
Is all that matters — no The Boy
Whose praises we should all employ,
Lest man all brotherhood destroy.
Come, take your stand; 'decry the whim
That turkeys, gifts and greeting slim
Define the core — they. are the rim
And but the glossy surface skim,
For in our hearts we kneel to Him.
...may this Noel
top all the rest!
Merry Christmas
from the management
and staff
at
AUD-JIM'S
OFFEE
SHOP
Bayfield Rd.
Goderlch
524-4331
HOWATT
BROS
LTD.
523-4500
1-800-265-9001
This
te'vei'l
lit" IP BEST
1 Ill WISHES
I I
Christmas Season;
Health — Happiness
in the New Year.
From the folks at Huronia
•Stephanie, Doug, Lloyd, Scott,
Tony, Arnold & Mike•
Welding -
Huronia Industrial Supplies
Hwy. 21, North, Goderich 524-2020
From the folks
who bring you Coke,
we would like to wish
our friends a Safe and
Merry Christmas from ...
ERIE & HURON
BEVERAGES
STRATFORD
271-2240
May the warm
Christmas tradition
grace your holiday
with health and
happiness.
Sincere
thanks to all our
good friends
with
COMPLIMENTS
OF THE SEASON
TO ALL:
Walter & Renee Schulz
DUNLOP
MOTEL
HWY. 21 NORTH
GODERICH
524-8781
MAY THIS HOLIDAY
BE FILLED WITH
ADVENTURE AND
EXCITEMENT FROM
BEGINNING TO END1
CB
To our growing 'family' of customers, who we also consider
our friends, may your holiday yield happiness and love.
Karen, Jane, Eleanor, Dee, Lori, Sherri
TRI/NG LE
DISCOUNT.
172 The Square, Goderich
72 THE SQUARE
GODERICH, ONT...
524-4509
GOLDSMITH -SILVERSMITH
e're proub to hnoki uou
as our goob frienbs anb
customers.,li 44 sincere
appreciation, flu' env,
32
West Street
Shoppers
Square
Goderieh
524-4312
er s
Nten&Women '
.1177777 (JIM'. •
• • .
‘V
Pat,
Earl,
Ute,
Connie
and
Kevin