There is perhaps nothing that can invoke a feeling of Christmas quite like a beloved Christmas hymn. Of course, all liturgical seasons have riches of beautiful music to draw upon, but Christmas hymns are so specific and so festive and Christmastime is so unique and so magical especially as children, that many of us are immediately taken back to Christmases past on hearing a familiar hymn. For myself, the hymn that immediately brings the gravity and majesty of the Godhead’s birth is the well-known hymn “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” It was a go-to choice in the parish I grew up in and I have always loved its clear theology and praise of the newborn King as well as its magnificent and glorious melody. 

Although it is a classic hymn and oft used in Catholic churches, it does not have Catholic origins. In 1739, Charles Welsey, the founder of the Methodist church, wrote a hymn “Hark How All the Welkin Rings” for a collection he and his brother were working on.  A welkin is an English word for "the vault of heaven". This was later published as “Hymn for Christmas Day” with 10 stanzas and was not very popular. 

In 1753, George Whitefield changed the first line (and title) to the now iconic “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.” He also shifted the perspective a little: originally the hymn focused on the angels singing praise to the newborn Babe but this version included tweaks that made the singer feel more involved in singing that praise to the King with the angels. 

Almost a hundred years later, Felix Mendelssohn, a renowned German composer, wrote a jubilant melody in celebration of…the printing press! Interesting, perhaps with a sense of the future, he stated that he did not think this tune was fit for sacred words! However, about 10 years later, an English musician named William Hayman Cummings combined Wesley’s lyrics, tweaked by Whitefield, to the music composed by Medelssohn. And thus was born “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” as we know it now!

As you read through the lyrics (with the melody playing in your mind, I’m sure!), I hope you are inspired to more deeply reflect on the great mystery and gift of the Incarnation! Glory to the newborn King, indeed!! 

Hark! the herald angels sing, "Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild – God and sinners reconciled!"
Joyful, all ye nations, rise, Join the triumph of the skies;
With th'angelic hosts proclaim, "Christ is born in Bethlehem."

Mild, He lays his glory by, Born that man no more may die;
Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail th'incarnate Deity!
Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel.

Hail the heav'n born Prince of Peace! Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings, Ris'n with healing in His wings.
Christ, by highest heav'n adored, Christ, the everlasting Lord
Come, Desire of nations, Come! Fix in us Thy humble home.

https://library.pepperdine.edu/news/posts/hymns-of-the-season-hark-the-herald-angels-sing.htm

https://hymncharts.com/2022/12/15/hark-the-herald-angels-sing/