Singing at Christmas dates back to the first known celebrations of Christmas in the fourth century, but these first hymns lacked the merry tone of the now popular Christmas carol. One of the earliest known Christmas hymns in the Latin Church is “Veni, Redemptor Gentium” (O come, redeemer of the earth), written by St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan (340-397). Clement A. Miles, author of the classic work “Christmas in Ritual and Tradition: Christian and Pagan” (1912), notes that the hymn represents “the theological aspect alone of Christmas [...]; there is no feeling for the human pathos and poetry of the scene at Bethlehem.”

Other hymns of this genre continue to be incorporated into the liturgy of the Church at Christmas, including the hymn of Spanish poet Prudentius (384-413), “Corde Natus ex Parentis” (Of the Father’s love begotten); “A Solis Ortus Cardine” (From east to west, from shore to shore), by Coelius Sedulius (d. 450); and “Jesu, Redemptor Omnium” (Jesus, the ransomer of man).

“Phos Hilaron” (O gladsome light) of the ancient Greek Church, is said to be written in the third or fourth century. Although not written specifically for Christmas -- it is used in Eastern Churches at Vespers -- the ancient hymn is sung at some evening Christmas services in Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches.

These first hymns are dense, solemn, and theological; they communicate the doctrines of the Incarnation and Redemption, but they fail to set the scene -- as later carols do -- of the human reality of the birth of Christ, complete with the presence of the shepherds, choirs of angels and the tenderness of a mother’s love toward a new infant.

Many erroneously attribute the first Christmas carols to St. Francis of Assisi, who had a particular devotion to the Child Jesus, but there are no known carols attributed to St. Francis. He did, however, introduce the practice of the living Crèche, or Nativity Scene. According to his biographer Thomas of Celano (1200-1265), the saint had wanted to recreate “the memory of that child who was born in Bethlehem, to see with bodily eyes the inconveniences of his infancy, how he lay in the manger, and how the ox and ass stood by.”

It is for this reason that many attribute to St. Francis the “carol spirit,” which as Clement A. Miles notes in his classic text on the traditions of Christmas, does not forget “the divine side of the Nativity, yet delights in its simple humanity.” The saint did pen, however, “Psalmus in Nativitate” (psalm for Christmas Day), which speaks of the birth of the Child “laid in a manger because He had no room in the inn.” The first Christmas carols, however, wouldn’t be written until after his death.

The Franciscans that followed St. Francis are said to have penned the first “carols,” which differentiated themselves from earlier Christmas hymns by being written in the vernacular, and by treating with warm familiarity the scene of the Nativity and Christ himself. The verses call the Christ Child “Our sweet little brother,” and they use such affectionate diminutives in referring to Christ as “bambolino,” “piccolino,” and “Jesulino.” One verse says: “Come and look upon her child, Nestling in the hay / See his fair arms open wide, On her lap to play / And she tucks him by her side, Cloaks him as she may / Gives her papa unto his mouth, Where his lips are laid” (Veggiamo il suo Bambino, Gammettare ne fieno / E le bracia scoperte Porgere ad ella in seno / Ed essa lo ricopre, El meglio che puo almeno / Mettendoli la poppa / Entro la sua bocchina).

Another saint, Redemptorist founder Alphonsus Maria da Liguori (1696-1787), contributed a Christmas carol that has become one of the most popular carols in Italy and beyond: “Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle” (You come down from the stars). The carol, which is traditionally sung on Christmas Eve in the Vatican, faithfully follows the “carol spirit” begun by St. Francis, as it paints the scene of the Nativity: “From starry skies descending / Thou comest, glorious King / A manger low Thy bed / In Winter’s icy sting; / O my dearest Child most holy / Shuddering, trembling in the cold” (Tu scendi dalle stelle, / O Re del Cielo, / e vieni in una grotta, / al freddo al gelo. / O Bambino mio Divino / Io ti vedo qui a tremar).

John J. Boucher, the associate director for evangelization at the Diocese of Trenton, and the organizer of the popular Christmas Carol Festivals of that diocese, reflected with Aleteia on the history of carols, noting that “whenever there has been a great spiritual awakening, great Christmas carols seem to be written that last. Normally, there is some real stirring of the Holy Spirit in the culture, and then you see more Christmas carols come forth, or old ones revised.”

Boucher also noted that most of the traditional Christmas carols have a “mixed history,” and that lyrics are often written separate from the music, or are a result of a “coming together of multiple authors.” The music used for many carols, he explained, is often taken from the secular culture: “It reflects the genius of the Catholic Church to take what is in the culture, baptize it, and make it Catholic.” The music used for “What Child Is This?” for example, was taken from “Greensleeves,” which was a popular drinking song in England.

In English, the word used for this genre of Christmas music is “carol,” which is said to come from the Old French word “carole,” a 12th century circle-dance of pagan origins. In French, however, this genre is known as the “Noël,” which is the French word for Christmas. In Italian, the genre is simply called “canto di Natale” (Christmas song) or “canto natalizio” (Nativity song). In Spain, a carol is called a “villancico,” and in Portuguese “vilancete.” The “villancico” takes its name from a poetic and musical type of music popular of the Iberian Peninsula in the 15th-18th centuries. In that time, villancicos were written for an array of feasts, such as the Immaculate Conception, the Ascension, Corpus Christi and the Assumption, but today the villancico refers only to religious songs about Christmas.

In the 14th century, several Christmas carols in the tradition of the Italian carols penned by the Franciscans, began to emerge from Germany. These were called “Weihnachtslied” (Christmas songs). John Tauler (d. 1361) wrote “Es komt ein schif geladen” (A ship comes sailing onwards), which was an adaptation of a secular song. From the same century comes “Es is Ros entsprungen,” translated into English as “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming,” and from the 14th century “In Dulci Jubilo,” known most widely in the English-speaking world as “Good Christian Men, Rejoice.”

In 1816, Father Joseph Mohr authored “Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht” (Silent Night) which was first sung on Christmas Eve in 1818 accompanied by music composed by Franz Gruber. The carol is a lullaby to the newborn, urging the “Holy Infant, so tender and mild,” to “sleep in heavenly peace.” So beloved is the simple carol that it has become one of the most sung Christmas songs in the world, and it has been translated into more than 140 languages.

The golden age of the English carol took place in the 15th-17th centuries, as chronicled by Edith Rickert in “Ancient English Christmas Carols 1400-1700” (Duffield and Company, 1910). We know of some 500 carols that were written during that period, most of which refer to the Mother of God or the child Jesus. At first the carols appeared to resemble the early Latin hymns, such as the macaronic “Mater Salutaris” of the 13th century. A popular carol of this period is “The First Nowell,” which appeared as we know it today in the early 1800s, but the lyrics of which possibly date back to as early at the 13th century, but at least from the mid-16th century. The carol touches on several of the common themes, such as the role of the shepherds in the Christmas story, painting a picture of the “cold winter’s night that was so deep,” and the story of the Three Kings who “continued, both day and night” in search of the Christ Child. The carol also makes mention of the “ox stall and an ass” and the Christ child’s “want of clothing” and his position “in a manger, among the hay.”

In France, the Noël began to appear in the 15th century, and similar to the English carols, appeared at first with Latin mixed in with the vernacular. “Noël Nouvelet” (literally translated as newsy news) dates back to the 15th century, and “Ça, Bergers, Assemblons Nous” (Shepherds, let us gather) dates back to the 16th century. Some of the more universally popular French carols include “Il Est Ne, le Divin Enfant” (He Is Born The Divine Christ Child), and “Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes” (Angels We Have Heard on High) of the 18th century.

In Spain, Juan López de Úbeda, Francisco de Ocana, and José de Valdivielso, were the principal authors of Christmas carols in the 16th and 17th centuries. One of the most popular songs of the Spanish-speaking world is “Los Peces En El Rio,” the lyrics of which alternate between the activities of Mary leading up to the birth of Christ, and the activities of the fish in the river. It's definitely worth a listen if you've never heard the carol of the fish and its infectious tune. The   A second very popular Spanish carol is “En el portal de Belen” (In the stable of Bethlehem).

“Christmas carols not only belong to our history; in a certain sense, they form our national and Christian history,” said Pope John Paul II when addressing a group of Polish pilgrims just ahead of Christmas in 1996. The Polish Pope reflected with his countrymen on “these expressions of popular piety, [...] whose musical and theological wealth is enormous.”

“They are many and of considerable spiritual richness,” he continued. “From the oldest to those of today, from the liturgical to the popular.”

“We must not lose this treasure,” he said, reflecting on the Polish carol “Bóg się rodzi” (God Is Being Born). “That is why, as I break the Christmas wafer with you, I hope that all of you, dear compatriots, whether in our homeland or here in Rome or anywhere in the world, may sing these Christmas carols, meditating on what they say, on their content, and that in them you may discover the truth about the love of God who became man for us.”

Two years earlier, in 1994, John Paul II wrote in a letter to children that when he was a child he would “experience the peaceful feelings of Christmas, and when the star of Bethlehem shone, I would hurry to the Crib together with the other boys and girls to relive what happened 2,000 years ago in Palestine. We children expressed our joy mostly in song. How beautiful and moving are the Christmas carols, which in the tradition of every people are sung around the Crib! What deep thoughts they contain, and above all what joy and tenderness they express about the Divine Child who came into the world that Holy Night!”

John J. Boucher, the associate director for Evangelization at the Diocese of Trenton, told Aleteia that Christmas carols are a sort of “little catechism,” and that they “have a way of presenting the Gospel of Jesus in a nutshell.” He said that “some carols [...] summarize the entire life, death and resurrection of Christ, and his reign as Christ the King. Others capture snapshots of Jesus, and the titles of Jesus.”

The Christmas Carol Festival is an annual evangelization project of Trenton that encourages parishes to use the rich tradition of Christmas carols to reach out to inactive or nonpracticing Catholics.

He said the possibilities of using carols as a way to evangelize, and to teach Catholics and non-Catholics about the faith, is “something we haven’t taken advantage of.” He reported after several years of conducting the carol festivals in the diocese, more and more people are inquiring about the Catholic faith, or coming back to Church.

He also spoke of several conversion stories that took place after attending a Christmas Carol Festival, including a woman who had left the Church decades ago, and came back after attending a festival. He said that participants “experience tremendous joy” when singing the carols of Christmas: “It captures for them the healing memory of the Christ child. That memory is something so deep, it touches people’s lives.”