Back to: The Twelve Days of Christmas Carols
Much like “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, “Angels from the Realms of Glory”, and “Angels We Have Heard on High”, “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” focuses primarily on the angels in the Christmas narrative (Lk 2:14) and their message to the shepherds: “Peace on the earth, goodwill to men.”
In fact, “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” might be the only popular Christmas carol in our hymnals today that does not mention the birth of Christ. It also happens to be one of the first Christmas carols Americans wrote and composed.