This week in Christian history: 'Silent Night' performance, Quaker theologian, George Whitefield born

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Twitter

‘Silent Night’ performed for the first time – December 24, 1818

A copy, circa 1860, of the Christmas song Stille Nacht, autographed by Franz Xaver Gruber (1787–1863), composer of the carol's melody.
A copy, circa 1860, of the Christmas song Stille Nacht, autographed by Franz Xaver Gruber (1787–1863), composer of the carol's melody. | Wikimedia Commons

This week marks the anniversary of the first time that the famous Christmas carol “Silent Night” was used during a worship service.

Austrian Catholic priest Joseph Franz Mohr wrote the lyrics in 1816 while a friend of his named Franz Xaver Gruber composed the melody, performing it at a small chapel in the village of Oberndorf, near Salzburg.

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According to Gruber in an 1854 account of the history of the song, the performance was met with “general approval by all” in attendance at the church.

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