O Holy Night…
For me it is so special to be with family at Midnight Mass to start the Christmas Season. It is so wonderful singing and hearing the entire congregation singing, “O Holy Night.”
As Vincentians, this great Christmas song touches all our hearts. It puts into words the special time when the Word became flesh and the bright light of Christ entered the world.
I love the first verse, but the third verse is where our Vincentian charism truly comes to life: “Truly He taught us to love one another; His law is love and His gospel is peace. Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother; And in His name all oppression shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we; Let all within us praise His holy name. Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we! His power and glory evermore proclaim!”
Our charge from Christ is to make the words of this song come to life by growing together spiritually and making our world a better place.
In putting together this article I learned that “O Holy Night” was inspired by a church’s renovation. A parish priest in Roquemaure, France asked a local poet, Placide Cappeau, to write a poem for the Christmas Midnight Mass to commemorate the recent renovation and installation of the stained-glass windows and organ. In 1847, it was put to music by composer Adolphe Adam.
This beautiful song was banned for a time because the lyricist was an atheist/socialist, and the composer was Jewish. However, the power of the way the words described the beauty of the birth of Christ prevailed, and this became one of our most beloved Christmas songs.
Many saw this song as controversial, even though it communicated the love of God powerfully and clearly. In a similar way, we may experience challenges when others see our Vincentian work to love others as controversial.
Many people judge those who are poor and vulnerable, and by extension judge those who try to help them. But no matter the challenges we face, we are called to overcome them to bring Christ’s bright light to the world. And I personally see our Vincentians doing this all the time – 2025 was an incredible year for the Society! Yes, we had our challenges from the economy that impacted those we serve, but we were up to the task at hand and responded.
We had an incredible year of serving our neighbors in need, seeing Christ in the millions we served. We grew together spiritually in friendship to face any challenges that came our way.
We established our Washington, D.C. office so we could fulfill our Vincentian calling to be a Voice for the Poor. We did not go to our nation’s capital to be changed, but instead to change the mindset of our national leaders as Christ calls us to do in this magnificent song.
Thanks to our phenomenal Vincentian Servant Board Leaders, 2026 will be another great year for our Society!
I started this article with a Christmas song we all know and love, but I am going to end with one you may have never heard of. It’s a song released the year I was born (1966) – “If Every Day Was Like Christmas” by Elvis Presley.
I know you will embrace this lyric from the song: “For if every day could be just like Christmas, What a wonderful world this would be.”
Thank you for making this a wonderful world by your commitment and dedication to our Society. Truly by living and breathing the Vincentian charism, you are working hard to make every day be filled with the Christmas spirit of hope for those we are so blessed to serve.
Best wishes and Merry Christmas,
Michael Acaldo
