At yesterday’s Mass for the Feast of the Epiphany at Christ the King, the music during the Preparation of the Gifts was Daniel Kantor’s Night of Silence (and Silent Night). It is a song that always touches me deeply; I’ve loved it since I first heard it sung by a choir my daughter sang in during high school.
On one level, it sounds like an Advent song, the verses ending with “its flame will be dying soon,” “soon will we know of the morning” and “we wait for your loving Son.
But sung the week after Christmas, with the words of Silent Night accompanying the final verse, the words serve as a reminder of our need for Christ – a reminder of exactly what it means to us that God became flesh and dwelt among us. And so, more than anything else, it generates a profound gratitude – and joy – at the gift we have been given.
Here is one version of the song:
Creo en Dios! 