Silent Night, Holy Night

The song was written by Joseph Mohr who was born in 1792 in the city of Salzburg, Austria and lived during the period from 1792 to 1820. He was ordained as a priest in 1815 in the Roman Catholic Church. The original title of the song is "Stille Nacht" and the song was written in 1818 when Father Mohr was serving as the parish priest in the Church of St. Nicholas in Obernorf, high in the Alps in the region of Tyrol. The music was composed by Franz Gruber who was the schoolmaster of the village and the church's organist. The song was written for the Christmas when the organ of the church failed and was played to the accompaniment of a guitar.
Neither Father Mohr not Franz Gruber expected the song to travel beyond the borders of their little village. But it seems that a few days after Christmas, the man who came to repair the organ, Karl Zillerthal obtained a copy of the song and the music and subsequently spread the carol spread through out the entire region of Tyrol. Soon it spread throughout Austria and Germany.
The carol first appeared in a German Hymnal in 1838 and was first heard in the U.S.A. in 1839 when it was sung by a family of Tyrolean singers, the Rainers. It was soon translated into English and other languages and the most well known translation was that of John F. Young and first appeared in 1863.
The complete lyrics of the carol are given below.

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, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.