Music teacher Cassandra Portee unpacks the history behind the famed holiday song, and reminds us what the real reason behind the season

I love the Christmas season.  It is a time of gift-giving, showing kindness to others by perhaps financially helping your church or an organization collect gifts for families in need, and gathering with family and friends.  We see the colorful lights, the fancy decorations, and we get lost in all the mumble jumble during this time of year.  Sadly, Christmas has become so commercialized, that the true meaning of the season gets lost in all the busyness that takes place.  The focus of the season is lost, and at the very last minute we try our best to squeeze the importance of Christmas into our plans, vowing next year it will be different.  And to be truthful, most of the time we repeat the same process the next year.

I can remember singing the Christmas carol “O Come, All Ye Faithful” ever since I was old enough to know myself.  My first memories are singing it in church, and hearing it on the radio as we approached the Christmas season. The melody is simple and easy to sing, but at the same time it is comforting and peaceful in its own unique way.  The lyrics are easy to remember and there are times I find myself humming this gentle, sweet carol. 

The origins of the song are unclear, and it seems several people worked on the song.  The text is Latin, and it is an 18th Century manuscript located in a college in Douai, France.  Many people believe the music and Latin words were composed between 1740 and 1743 by John Francis Wade, who was an English music copyist and Catholic layman.  Wade was a refugee from the Jacobite Rebellion that took place in 1745.  In 1841 Frederick Oakley, an Anglican priest translated the first three verses and the sixth verse into English.  Three more stanzas were translated by Abbe Etienne Jean Francois Borderies to complete the Christmas story.  The song was originally named “Adeste Fiedeles’. In 1760 the song was published.

At the end of the church service today, for the benediction the congregation sang the refrain, “O come, let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him Christ the Lord,” from this beloved carol.  Singing those lyrics reminded me we are encouraged to come and see the Christ Child Who came to redeem us from our sins.  This holiday season, let us all take time to slow down, and spend time reflecting on the goodness of God in sending His only Son to earth as the best gift we could ever receive. 

God thought enough of us to do this because of the love He has for us.  It is His desire no one should perish, and He wants us to spend eternity with Him.  We would be lost without His love and for Him paving the way for us to make our way back to Him.  Come, let us adore and praise the One Who put off immortality and put on human nature to bring us into right fellowship with the Father.  Come let us adore and treasure all He has to give us, and what He offers us for eternity.  Let us come joyfully, gratefully, and humbly to seek and worship the King Who will reign forever and ever.  Do not let this Christmas season lose its significance in not glorifying the King of kings and Lord of lords.  He is patiently waiting.  Won’t you come and adore Him?

May your holidays be glorious as you make your way to come and adore the Savior in worship and praise.  Merry Christmas!!!