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THREE GREAT WRITERS OF CHRISTMAS CAROLS

John Julian, the greatest authority in English hymnody stated that Charles Wesley was undoubtedly the greatest hymn writer of all ages. This coming year we will celebrate his 300th birthday. Charles Wesley must have written almost constantly, because he wrote over 6,500 hymns. That is an enormous output for one person. He was born at Epworth on December 18, 1707 and died at Marylebone on March 29, 1788. Wesley accompanied General Oglethorpe, as his secretary, arriving in Savannah, Georgia in February of 1736, after a four month journey. Probably his most famous hymn is, "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing" which was composed for the first anniversary of his conversion. A Moravian missionary, Peter Bohler, said to Wesley, "If I had a thousand tongues, I'd praise Christ with all of them." Wesley never forgot those words or the doctrine of faith which led to his conversion on May 21, 1738.

CHARLES WESLEY penned the words to the familiar carol, "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing."
The words to the first verse are:
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 the angelic host proclaim, "Christ is born in Bethlehem!"
Hark! The herald angels sing, "Glory to the newborn King".

JOHN HENRY HOPKIN'S JR. wrote the lovely Christmas carol, "We Three Kings of Orient Are." His father was a Bishop in Vermont. John was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvanian on October 28, 1820. He was educated at the University of Vermont and published two books of poems. Hopkins became a preacher at Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He died in Troy, New York on August 13, 1891.

PHILLIPS BROOKS wrote the beautiful Christmas Carol, "It Came upon a Midnight Clear". Brooks was born December 13, 1835, a native of Boston. He taught Latin in a School in Boston after graduating from Harvard. Realizing soon that he didn't like teaching school, he enrolled in the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia Brooks was ordained in l859 and served in several churches in Philadelphia before he became the minister at the famous Trinity Church in Boston. It was said that he knew two hundred hymns by heart when he entered Harvard, and was heard singing them each morning in his room. Phillips Brooks spent some time in the Holy Land in 1865 and on the day before Christmas he rode from Jerusalem to Bethlehem and went into the fields where, we are told, the shepherds were. On that Christmas Eve in 1865 he attended a service at the ancient Church of the Nativity, not far from the place that Jesus was born. Three years later he composed this traditional Christmas Carol for the children of his Philadelphia Sunday School to sing at their Christmas Service. Phillips Brooks was one of the most eloquent preachers of America. He died January 23, 1895.

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