The classic Christmas carols are prayers set to music: they tell the story of Christ’s birth, teach the faith, and fill churches and homes with joy every December. Several of the best-loved carols were written by Catholics, among them a parish priest in Austria and a French wine merchant. This guide gathers our carol pages, each with the full public-domain lyrics, the story of how the carol came to be, its meaning, and a prayer.
Advent hymns
Before Christmas, the Church sings of longing and expectation:
- O Come, O Come, Emmanuel: based on the ancient O Antiphons of December 17–23.
See Advent.
Carols written by Catholics
- Silent Night: written by Fr. Joseph Mohr, a young Austrian priest, and set to music by Franz Xaver Gruber for Christmas Eve 1818.
- O Holy Night: the French Minuit, Chrétiens, written in 1847 by Placide Cappeau at the request of his parish priest, with music by Adolphe Adam.
- O Come, All Ye Faithful: the Latin Adeste Fideles, associated with the English Catholic musician John Francis Wade in the eighteenth century.
- Good King Wenceslas: about a real Catholic saint and martyr, St. Wenceslaus, on the feast of St. Stephen.
Classic English carols
- Joy to the World: Isaac Watts’s paraphrase of Psalm 98.
- Hark! the Herald Angels Sing: Charles Wesley’s carol of the Incarnation.
- O Little Town of Bethlehem: inspired by a Christmas Eve in Bethlehem.
- It Came Upon the Midnight Clear: the angels’ song of peace.
- What Child Is This?: sung to Greensleeves.
- Away in a Manger: the children’s carol (not by Martin Luther).
- We Three Kings: the carol of the Magi and their gifts.
The Christmas psalms
The Church sings psalms at every Christmas Mass:
- Psalm 96: “Sing to the Lord a new song,” at Midnight Mass.
- Psalm 98: “All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God,” at the Mass during the Day.
See Christmas Mass.
Where carols come from
Carols began as joyful songs, sometimes with dancing, sung in the language of the people rather than in Latin. Tradition credits St. Francis of Assisi, who set up the first Nativity scene at Greccio in 1223, and his friars with spreading popular Christmas songs, and carols flourished in late medieval England, France and Germany. After falling out of fashion in some places, they were revived in the nineteenth century, when many of the carols on this page were written or translated.
Singing carols as a family
- Sing during Advent with the Advent wreath, saving the joyful Christmas carols for Christmas itself and the days that follow, until the Baptism of the Lord. See Advent wreath prayers.
- Sing at the crib on Christmas Eve, when the figure of the Child is laid in the manger.
- Read the Gospel of the Nativity (Luke 2:1–20) before singing.
- Go caroling to neighbors, the sick and the elderly, a simple work of mercy.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most popular Christmas carol?
Silent Night, written by a Catholic priest in Austria in 1818, is often called the most popular Christmas carol in the world.
Which Christmas carols were written by Catholics?
Silent Night (Fr. Joseph Mohr), O Holy Night (Placide Cappeau and Adolphe Adam), and the Latin Adeste Fideles (O Come, All Ye Faithful) are among the best-known carols of Catholic origin.
When should Christmas carols be sung?
Traditionally, Christmas carols are sung from Christmas Eve through the Christmas season, which ends with the Baptism of the Lord in January. Advent has its own hymns of waiting.
More for Christmas
Sources
- Carol texts and sources are given on each carol’s page.
- Scripture: Luke 2:1–20.