Songs Of Hope - Sing We Now Of ChristmasSample

O Come, All Ye Faithful

Adeste fideles læti triumphantes,
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant!

Venite, venite in Bethlehem.
Come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem

Natum videte
Come and behold him

Regem angelorum:
Born the King of angels

Venite adoremus
O come, let us adore him.

Dominum
Christ, the Lord

When I sing this old carol, my thoughts go back to the many times I have joined with a group singing “O come let us adore him” in candle-lit sanctuaries or caroling outside someone’s home, beckoning all to worship Jesus. Adeste Fideles (lit. “be present you faithful”) is one of those songs through which Christmas comes alive for me.

What makes this hymn so memorable is its simplicity – a simple call to worship Christ. No one is completely sure who authored the hymn. Originally written in Latin, the hymn has been attributed to various writers, most often to John Francis Wade ca. 1743. Yet the provenance of this hymn is not as important as what the words communicate and what the music accomplishes.

When people sing “O come, all ye faithful,” the words evoke in us the meaning they express. We come, we behold, and we adore Christ the Lord!

Dr. Bill Carrell
Professor of Christian Studies
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor