O Come All Ye Faithful

O Come All Ye Faithful

John Francis Wade was a Roman Catholic who was run out of England following the crushing of the Jacobite rebellion in 1745. He lived with other exiled English Catholics in France and supported himself by teaching music and copying music scores. The printing press had been around for a while, but copying music was very cumbersome and it was actually easier and cheaper to copy the music by hand than arrange for printing. His work as a music copyist was known to be top-notch, even exquisite. He made a good living with this work.

As a young man, he composed a hymn in Latin, called Adeste Fidelis, Laeti Triumphantes. Latin, of course, was the language of Catholicism and he likely intended this to be sung in Mass.

Mr Wade passed away in 1786. As Catholics began to return to England in subsequent years, they brought this Latin hymn with them. It was nearly a century later that an Anglican, Frederick Oakeley, translated the words into English in 1845, leaving the original tune nearly untouched.

The original song had four verses. Four additional verses have been added by unknown authors over the years.

Two Englishmen, nearly a century apart, combined forces to bring this beloved Christmas carol to us.

O Come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels!

O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord!

Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation,
O sign, all ye bright hosts of heav’n above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest!

Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning.
Jesus, to Thee be all glory giv’n;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing!

Side note: the 80’s rebellious metal hit 'We’re Not Gonna Take It' by Twisted Sister follows the same tune. Listen to them side-by-side and wait for your head to explode…


Morgan, Robert J. Then Sings My Soul. Thomas Nelson Publishers. 2003
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Come,_All_Ye_Faithful
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Francis_Wade