Joyeux Noel from France

We heard the bells on Christmas Day!

Last night as we were drifting off to sleep after a special Christmas Eve celebration - we heard the bells on Christmas Day.  The 850 year bells in the Notre Dame Tower rang in the day.  As we laid there - Chris from his Christmas slumber said:  "It reminds we of the poem Christmas Bells by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - "God is not dead, He does not sleep."  It was so moving - to hear the Christmas bells ringing out in the night.  For me it felt like hope ringing in the dark of the night across the City of Lights.  So beautiful!  Here is some history of the song & the lyrics as well as a you tube video of the Notre Dame Midnight Mass bell ringing.  

I loved what the Notre Dame had posted on their website about the ringing of bells:

The bells, which are amongst the oldest sound instruments, have always been associated with Christianity from the first centuries when its influence began to spread, “proclaiming God to the horizon." While marking out the passage of time since the Middle Ages, their primary function is liturgical: With their ringing and chiming they call the faithful to come together and pray, combining their song with the joy and suffering of the Christian community, and, just as importantly at Notre-Dame de Paris, with the key moments in the history of France."

See their website for more insight into the bells....

* Someone had already posted this to Youtube from last night's Christmas Eve Midnight Mass

"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" is a Christmas carol based on the 1863 poem "Christmas Bells" by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.^[1]  During the American Civil War, Longfellow's oldest son Charles Appleton Longfellow joined the Union cause as a soldier without his father's blessing. Longfellow was informed by a letter dated March 14, 1863, after Charles had left. "I have tried hard to resist the temptation of going without your leave but I cannot any longer," he wrote. "I feel it to be my first duty to do what I can for my country and I would willingly lay down my life for it if it would be of any good".^[2] Charles soon got an appointment as a lieutenant but, in November, he was severely wounded^[3] in the Battle of New Hope Church (in Virginia) during the Mine Run Campaign. Coupled with the recent loss of his wife Frances, who died as a result of an accidental fire, Longfellow was inspired to write "Christmas Bells".  He first wrote the poem on Christmas Day in 1863.^[4] "Christmas Bells" was first published in February 1865.

Casting Crowns singing the song at a live concert!

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,

and mild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along

The unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime,

A chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,

And with the sound

The carols drowned

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,

And made forlorn

The households born

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;

"For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The Wrong shall fail,

The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men."

JOYEUX NOEL FROM FRANCE

WE LOVE YOU ALL - THE BLOCKER FAMILY

* I hope to post some more photos from the weekend & things to come tomorrow.  We have a super fun Christmas treat tomorrow from Uncle Stephen & Aunt Molly!!!  Here's a hint.... :)