The rhetorical question leaves us almost unable to sing the refrain aloud. The fifth stanza takes a decidedly different tone, placing us not only at the manger scene as one of the humble who have come to see the Christ child, but actually in the manger! Note that there is no comma after “sinners,” indicating that it is not just the “Child” in the manger, but we who join him there in humility, “awe and love”: Stanza four invites us to model our response on that of the shepherds: “We too will thither / bend our joyful footsteps.” An omitted stanza notes the appearance of the magi: The refrain then becomes a cosmic chorus uniting heaven and earth. In the third stanza, the “faithful” join their voices with the angels singing “Gloria in excelsis Deo” (Luke 2:14). Thus, singing stanza two establishes a link to the church that reaches back to 325 A.D., at the Council of Nicea, where the Creed originates. This paraphrases the text of the Creed very closely: Of particular note is the second stanza that draws heavily upon the Nicene Creed: to Bethlehem” places the singer both among the shepherds who rushed to see the Christ child, and in the long procession of the “faithful” that have journeyed to Bethlehem in their hearts for over 2,000 years. The invitation to “come, all ye faithful. Other versions and many alterations exist as well. Murray’s Hymnal for Use in the English Church (1852) under the title “Let us go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass.” (Luke 2:15)Ībbé Etienne Jean François Borderies (1764-1832), who was inspired upon hearing the hymn, translated three additional stanzas, of which four and five are included in the UM Hymnal, to fill out the Christmas story. Oakeley’s stanzas, penned in 1841, first appeared in F.H. Oakeley became a Roman Catholic and was known for his ministry to the poor at Westminster Abbey. The English language translation of stanzas one, two, three and six is the work of Frederick Oakeley (1802-1880), a translator of Latin hymns during the Oxford movement who worked closely with Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890), a leader in the movement. Research by Dom John Stéphan, author of The Adeste Fidelis: A Study of Its Origin and Development (1947), has determined that the first and original manuscript was dated in 1743, indicating that Wade composed both the Latin words and the music between 17.
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All appear to have been written, signed, and dated by John Francis Wade, an Englishman who made his living by copying and selling plainchant and other music.” Methodist hymnologist Fred Gealy notes: “Seven manuscripts containing the Latin hymn are known they are dated 1743-61. One possibility is that John Francis Wade (c.1711-1786) was an English musician at the college. The college was exiled to England at the time of the French Revolution (1789-99).
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The college was located in northern France beginning around 1561 and continuing until it was suppressed in 1793. The Latin text comes from the Roman Catholic tradition, found in an 18th-century manuscript in the College at Douai. What we sing is a 19th-century version of a hymn written in the 18th century. This favorite Christmas hymn appears to be the result of a collaboration of several people. O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.