“It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old” is a Christmas carol about the song of the angels at Bethlehem: “Peace on the earth, good will to men.” Written in 1849 by Edmund Hamilton Sears, it asks a weary and divided world to stop and listen to that song again. Below are the lyrics, the story of the carol, the Gospel behind it, what it means, and a prayer for peace.
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear lyrics
As printed in The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920):
It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold:
Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From heaven’s all-gracious King;
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.
Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled;
And still their heavenly music floats
O’er all the weary world:
Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on heavenly wing,
And ever o’er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.
And ye, beneath life’s crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way,
With painful steps and slow,
Look now, for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing;
O rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing!
For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophet-bards foretold,
When with the ever-circling years
Comes round the age of gold;
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world give back the song
Which now the angels sing.
The story of the carol
Edmund Hamilton Sears (1810–1876) was a pastor in Wayland, Massachusetts. He wrote the poem in December 1849, a time of war and social unrest, and it was published that month in a Boston church paper. The American tune, Carol, was composed by Richard Storrs Willis in 1850; in Britain it is often sung to Noel, arranged by Arthur Sullivan.
Unlike most carols, it does not describe the manger. It focuses on the angels and their message, and on what that message means for a world still full of strife.
The angels’ song in the Gospel
St. Luke tells how the angels appeared to the shepherds on the night Jesus was born:
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying:
Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will.
The Church sings this hymn of the angels at almost every Sunday Mass in the Gloria. See the Christmas Mass.
What the carol means
- The song continues: “Still through the cloven skies they come.” The message of Christmas is not only for the past.
- Comfort for the weary: “And ye, beneath life’s crushing load… O rest beside the weary road, And hear the angels sing!”
- A call to peace: the world’s “Babel sounds” of conflict drown out the angels; the carol invites us to listen again.
- Hope: the last verse looks forward to the day when “the whole world give back the song.” For Christians, that peace is the gift of Christ, the Prince of Peace, whose birth the angels announced.
A prayer for peace at Christmas
Written for this page:
Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace, the angels sang at your birth:
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will.”
Quiet the noise of anger and strife in my heart and in our world.
Give rest to the weary and courage to those who carry heavy loads,
and make me an instrument of your peace. Amen.
Frequently asked questions
Who wrote It Came Upon the Midnight Clear?
Edmund Hamilton Sears, a pastor in Massachusetts, in 1849. The American tune is by Richard Storrs Willis (1850).
What Bible passage is It Came Upon the Midnight Clear about?
The angels’ song to the shepherds in Luke 2:13–14: “Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will.”
Is It Came Upon the Midnight Clear sung in Catholic churches?
Yes, it is a familiar Christmas hymn in many English-speaking parishes.
More for Christmas
- Christmas carols: lyrics and stories
- O Little Town of Bethlehem
- Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
- Silent Night
- Catholic prayer for peace
- Christmas Mass
- Catholic Christmas prayers
Texts and sources
- Lyrics: Edmund Hamilton Sears (1849), as printed in The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920), no. 33, public domain (Wikisource). Misprint corrected: “golden hours.”
- Scripture: Luke 2:13–14, Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
- The prayer was written for this page.