‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’

Each Christmas, the melodic hymn acts as a bridge between ancient sacred music and contemporary worship.
‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’
A detail from "A Christmas Carol in Lucerne," 1887, by Hans Bachmann. Public Domain
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Every December at church services throughout the world, congregations come together and sing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” as part of Advent services celebrating Christ’s birth and his second coming. The soulful tune has become one of the Christmas holiday’s most popular contemporary carols.

And each year, when families and worshippers sing the song in unison, they are participating in a sacred tradition more than 1,200 years old.

A Latin Beginning

Rebecca Day
Rebecca Day
Author
Rebecca Day is a freelance writer and independent musician. For more information on her music and writing, visit her Substack, Classically Cultured, at classicallycultured.substack.com
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