80. O come, all ye faithful
Latin
Adeste, fideles,
Laeti triumphantes;
Venite, venite in Bethlehem;
Natum videte
Regem Angelorum:
Venite, adoremus Dominum.
Deum de Deo;
Lumen de Lumine,
Gestant puellae viscera
Deum Verum,
Genitum, non factum:
Venite, adoremus Dominum.
Ergo Qui natus
Die hodierna,
Iesu, Tibi sit gloria:
Patris Aeterni
Verbum Caro factum!
Venite, adoremus Dominum.
A priceless legacy from the Latin Church and one of the most popular of Christmas hymns. It has been translated into at least 125 languages. The origin of the text and tune is obscure. The original poem may have been German or French of the 17th or 18th century.
From the lengthy (and on the whole profitless) discussions of the possible origins of the hymn, it may be concluded that the hymn and tune came into use together, in the services of the Roman Church, during the first part of the 18th century; that they were circulated first in manuscript form and later appeared in print, the earliest known book containing them being a small volume, An Essay on the Church Plain Chant, published in London, 1782. Nothing definite can be stated as to the authors of either words or music.
The translation was made in 1841 by Frederick Oakeley, 1802-80, Church of England minister who later joined the Roman Catholics.
MUSIC. ADESTE FIDELES belongs by long association to this hymn, its name being derived from the first words of the Latin. It is also widely used with “How firm a foundation.” The present arrangement is credited to Vincent Novello, organist in the Portuguese Chapel in London about 1785.