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I posted this on my Christmas thread but there seems to be a theme here today about getting along at Christmastime so i thought this deserved a thread of it's own!



Christmas Miracles - The Silent Night

A true Christmas miracle born from the horror of world war and the unifying music of Christmas

In any conversation about Christmas miracles, someone usually refers to the true story of a Silent Night during 1914 when an unlikely truce between opposing German and British forces demonstrated the true spirit of Christmas in a way unlikely to be forgotten.

The Beginnings

People associate the song Silent Night with the so-called "Christmas Truce" because it's the first song known to have echoed across the war-torn battlefield and also because for that night the rifles went silent. On that Christmas Eve, German soldiers began decorating their trenches and singing the famous song. Inspired, the British soldiers returned carols in English, and one of the most famous Christmas miracles of modern history was born.

The Truce

By December 24th, soldiers on both sides were discouraged and dispirited, and it's safe to say no one wanted to spend Christmas in a trench, far from family and friends. So it makes sense that both sides were ready for a truce.

Once the carols had been sung, soldiers began to shout greetings across the field. Several of the German soldiers spoke English, allowing the sides to communicate freely. Soon, brave soldiers began to visit across the neutral zone in the middle of the field (also known as "No Man's Land"). They exchanged gifts of whatever they had: whiskey, jam, cigars, chocolate and uniform buttons or pieces.

One of the more painful but important part of such Christmas miracles is the emotional impact, and the truce allowed both sides to retrieve soldiers whose bodies had fallen in the middle of the field. Prior to now, it had been too dangerous to emerge from the trenches to claim the bodies. Now, soldiers were given the chance to bury the bodies of their fallen brothers.

In fact, in some cases German and British soldiers joined together to hold funeral services for their friends, reading verses from the Bible, particularly the 23rd psalm.

All Good Things...

Unfortunately, Christmas miracles are often all too fleeting. In this case, the war had to resume, and while some soldiers refused to fight, understandably reluctant to resume killing their newfound friends, army officials intervened, and by New Year's Day, the truce was over in all areas -- but not in the hearts of those who experienced it.

The last surviving veteran of the Christmas Truce died in Scotland at the age of 109, but like all Christmas miracles, this one will survive those who experienced it for many years.

Sorry to be an old cynic.

My husbands grandfather was a medic in the First world war. he came out of a trench on The Somme to attend to a wounded GERMAN and the British Army took great exception, and shot him in the head. he was 29 years old and left my mother-in-law aged 2 yrs old.

oscar;1084556 wrote: Sorry to be an old cynic.

My husbands grandfather was a medic in the First world war. he came out of a trench on The Somme to attend to a wounded GERMAN and the British Army took great exception, and shot him in the head. he was 29 years old and left my mother-in-law aged 2 yrs old.


don't worry about it Oscar, everyone is free to say whatever they feel on my threads! :-6

oh thats so sad, losing her father at such a young age!

I think it is a great story and the true sense of mankind. It shows that wars are the products of governments and not people. If people were not taught to have enemies we would have a better world.

It also reminds me of my trip to Gettysburg, where of course the famous battle of the US Civil War took place. I was told on the tour that at night fall the fighting would stop, and as there was only one well in the town the two sides would gather at the well for water. Not one person was killed and not one shot was fired when they were all together those nights.

Then by day light they mowed each other down.

Such a strange race of people we are us humans.

mikeinie;1084685 wrote: I think it is a great story and the true sense of mankind. It shows that wars are the products of governments and not people. If people were not taught to have enemies we would have a better world.

It also reminds me of my trip to Gettysburg, where of course the famous battle of the US Civil War took place. I was told on the tour that at night fall the fighting would stop, and as there was only one well in the town the two sides would gather at the well for water. Not one person was killed and not one shot was fired when they were all together those nights.

Then by day light they mowed each other down.

Such a strange race of people we are us humans.


there are a lot of stories like that from the Civil War, i forget which battle but ive heard a story of troops being on either side of a river and during the night they traded things with each other like one side sent over coffee and the other side sent back tobacco, stuff like that and then they went back to killing each other in the morning!

Silent Night!

The origin of the Christmas carol we know as Silent Night was a poem that was written in 1816 by an Austrian priest called Joseph Mohr. On Christmas Eve in 1818 in the small alpine village called Oberndorf it is reputed that the organ at St. Nicholas Church had broken. Joseph Mohr gave the poem of Silent Night (Stille Nacht) to his friend Franz Xavier Gruber and the melody for Silent Night was composed with this in mind. The music to Silent Night was therefore intended for a guitar and the simple score was finished in time for Midnight Mass. Silent Night is the most famous Christmas carol of all time!





Silent night, holy night

All is calm, all is bright

Round yon Virgin Mother and Child

Holy Infant so tender and mild

Sleep in heavenly peace

Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night!

Shepherds quake at the sight

Glories stream from heaven afar

Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!

Christ, the Saviour is born

Christ, the Saviour is born

Silent night, holy night

Son of God, love's pure light

Radiant beams from Thy holy face

With the dawn of redeeming grace

Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth

Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth "

Thanks Hope and Jimbutt...I was not familiar with these stories, but they are perfect for the Christmas season. :-4