Wassail Song
Articles, Carols of Comfort & Joy
It’s Christmas Eve and the last Sunday of Advent – and so, here we come a-wassailing! We celebrate the birth of Christ tomorrow, and today the Willows Academy choir ... Read more
Sussex Carol
Articles, Carols of Comfort & Joy
Good news travels like wildfire – and for “Sussex Carol”, it seems carols travel just as fast! Luke Wadding, an Irish Franciscan friar and historian, is credited with its ... Read more
Go Tell it on the Mountain
Articles, Carols of Comfort & Joy
Like many of the Carols of Comfort & Joy we’ve explored this Advent, “Go Tell it on the Mountain” is a Christmas AND an Easter song. This song likely ... Read more
Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming
Articles, Carols of Comfort & Joy
Have you heard this one before? It’s not like “Jolly Old St. Nicholas” or “Jingle Bells”, with lyrics that are quick to pick up. In fact, it was originally ... Read more
Away in a Manger
Articles, Carols of Comfort & Joy
Today’s Carol of Comfort & Joy is often called “Luther’s cradle hymn” after appearing in a Lutheran children’s hymnal in 1885. While not actually where it came from, the ... Read more
Maria Durch Ein Dornwald Ging
Articles, Carols of Comfort & Joy
As you’re traveling to see friends and family for Christmas, remember that Our Blessed Mother did the same thing leading up to Christmas. I think my favorite song to ... Read more
O Christmas Tree
Articles, Carols of Comfort & Joy
Did you know that “O Christmas Tree” was originally written in praise of an everyday evergreen? That’s right! The song’s original name was “O Tannenbaum,” borrowing from the German ... Read more
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Articles, Carols of Comfort & Joy
Have you ever visited a new place and been so enamored by it, you write a song about it? That’s just what happened to Phillips Brooks, an Episcopalian clergyman, ... Read more
Silent Night
Articles, Carols of Comfort & Joy
As you’re winding up for Christmas, it might be a surprise to remember that the night of Christ’s birth was awfully quiet. Aside from the noises of the animals ... Read more
In Dulce Jubilo
Articles, Carols of Comfort & Joy
In the same poll in which experts ranked “In the Bleak Midwinter” as the best Christmas carol, do you know what the second one is? “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” ... Read more
The 12 Days of Christmas
Articles, Carols of Comfort & Joy
What would YOU do with 264 gifts? That’s the plight of the narrator in today’s Carol of Comfort & Joy, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. While the twelve days, ... Read more
Joy to the World
Articles, Carols of Comfort & Joy
Today, our Carol of Comfort & Joy is the most published hymn in North America: “Joy to the World!” English minister and logician Isaac Watts wrote the lyrics in ... Read more