Silent Night

Over 200 years ago, “Silent Night” was first heard by villagers attending Christmas Eve mass in St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, Austria. Joseph Mohr, the young priest who wrote the lyrics, played the guitar and sang along with Franz Gruber, the choir director who had written the melody. How did this simple tune, with its quiet words of comfort, become a beloved hymn of peace throughout the world? An organ builder and repairman working at the church took a copy of the six-v...