The Story of "O Come, All Ye Faithful"

The authorship of "O Come, All Ye Faithful," which was originally a Latin Christmas song called, "Adeste Fidelis," has been attributed to various different poets, but is still a mystery. Some believe that it was an old carol connected with dancing around the manger, and that it might have been used by St. Francis of Assisi. Others claim it came from the 13th century and was the song of a Franciscan friar, St. Bonaventura, who was an associate of St. Francis. Other historians state that "Adeste Fidelis" was written by an unknown French poet during the reign of Louis XIV.

However, it is now the general consensus that Englishman John Francis Wade found the stanzas or wrote them in connection with his music copying and research work in Douay, France, and it first appeared in print in his book, Cantus Diversi, published in 1751.

The first printing of the tune that goes with "O Come, All Ye Faithful", was in a collection by another English music copyist 14, Samuel Webbe, Sr. Because Samuel Webbe played the organ in the chapel of the Portuguese embassy in London and used this superb tune on many occasions, the music to this carol became known as "The Portuguese Hymn," leading some historians to believe that it had its origin in Portugal.

So the two music copyists, Wade and Webbe, were instrumental in giving Christendom one of her finest Christmas hymns, "Adeste Fidelis."

Englishman Rev. Frederick Oakeley was so thrilled by the published Latin version of "Adeste Fidelis," that, in 1841, he translated it into his native English, entitling it, "Ye Faithful, Approach Ye."

Eleven years after the translation, Oakeley was determined to improve upon the hymn. He scrupulously studied the original Latin version in an attempt to translate it into more effective and expressive English.

Although more than forty different translations were made of "Adeste Fideles," Oakeley's translation, "O Come, All Ye Faithful," was the one most preferred. This carol has been translated into 120 languages and dialects.

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