Phoebe asked for Adeste Fideles, so I have given her Pavarotti at Notre Dame Cathedral in Montreal.
Our Second Annual Christmas Carol Contest is off to a good start–I hope many of you enter. If you’ve never made a hymn request before, now’s as good a time as any to start.
Requested by TheWhiteRabbit–Luciano Pavarotti singing Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful), at Notre Dame Cathedral, Montreal. This video was made in 1978–wow, has it really been 41 years? But the hymn, the day, and the power of the Holy Spirit are ageless.
Requested by Phoebe: from Notre Dame Cathedral in Montreal, Adeste Fideles, sung by Pavarotti.
And, huff-puff, I think I’ve caught up with the hymn requests!
I don’t feel like posting any news just now. How about some more Christmas music? Like Luciano Pavarotti singing Adeste Fideles at Notre Dame Cathedral, Montreal, back in 1978.
What a voice he had! A God-given gift, brought to full glory by his stewardship of it, hard work and practice. Listen! And I dare you to remain unmoved.
Think what it meant to sing this Christmas carol in 1942.
The United States and Britain were losing World War II. France was conquered. the next Germany offensive was expected to finish off Russia. No one would have been much doubted, if he predicted that no one but bloodthirsty dictators would come out of this war on top: a world given over to Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, the Japanese warlords, Mao Tse-tung. Lights out.
This is the world into which Jesus Christ entered in the flesh. Because God intervenes in history, the lights that went out in 1942 were turned back on. Because Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we dare to sing to celebrate His birth, we dare to hope, we defy the powers of this fallen world.
Sing, sing, and sing louder!
By reader request, Adeste Fideles–the original Latin version of the carol we also know as O Come, All Ye Faithful. In some hymnals this melody is also used for the old Portuguese hymn, How Firm a Foundation.
I have to go to the nursing home today, but hopefully I’ll be back with more later.
Sing louder, everybody–the King of Kings has come!
And who but the Lord Our God would have ever thought of having the King come into the world by way of a manger?
For many Christians this hymn has another tune. But in the church I grew up in, which no longer exists, How Firm a Foundation was sung to the tune of a Christmas carol, O Come, All Ye Faithful.
This, above, is the only example of it I could find. Yes, it’s only a piano playing. There is something to be said for simplicity: I believe the Lord likes it.
So find a magnifying glass for the lyrics, and sing along.