While there are lot of conflict opinions about which Christmas songs are the dear — Wham ! ’s “ Last Christmas , ” for instance — and which are the tough ( Looking at you , “ Dominick the Donkey ” ) , the oldest Christmas carol is probably overleap from every heateddebate .
That ’s because it dates back to 129 C.E. , and we do n’t jazz what it sound like . According toCatholicCulture.org , then - Bishop of Rome Telesphorus laud that “ In the Holy Night of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior , all shall solemnly sing the ‘ Angel ’s Hymn . ’ ” As to when on the dot the Holy Night of the Nativity occurred , that ’s also a piddling questionable — Reader ’s Digestreportsthat the church did n’t commence celebrating Christmas on December 25 until about two century later , in 336 C.E.
Though we do n’t screw the original line of the “ Angel ’s Hymn , ” we do have an approximation of some of its lyrics . In the Bible , the angelsrespondedto Jesus ’s birth by saying “ nimbus to God in the highest , ” which , in Latin , translates toGloria in excelsis Deo . And , even if you do n’t celebrateChristmas , you might have heard that particular credit line on the radio around this time of year : It ’s sport in the democratic Christmas strain “ Angels We Have Heard on High . ”
In her bookSpirit of Christmas : A account of Our Best - Loved Carols , Virginia Reynoldsexplainsthat British bishop James Chadwick created the still - popular ditty in 1862 by combining the traditionalGloria in excelsis Deohymn with a loose English interlingual rendition of an old Gallic Christmas carol call “ Angels in Our Fields . ”
So , although “ Angels We Have Heard on High ” in integrality does n’t exactly qualify as the old Christmas song of all time , it definitely helped the original “ Angel ’s Hymn ” gain mainstream , long - lasting realization . Other other Christmas hymns , like “ Jesus Refulsit Omnium ” and “ Corde natus ex Parentis , ” were n’t so prosperous .
[ h / tReader ’s Digest ]
