Advent Calendar - The Vigil of Christmas: The Christmas Truce of 1914

by Jane Carver

"Alleluia, alleluia. Tomorrow shall the iniquity of the earth be abolished: and the Savior of the world shall reign over us. Alleluia." - Alleluia from the Vigil of Christmas

The events of Christmas 1914 during the first world war are true and astounding! At that time, Pope Benedict XV called for a temporary cease fire for the feast of Christmas 1914. The parties at war did not officially declare this moment of peace but one night, a brave German stepped into no-man's-land and began singing Stille Nacht, Silent Night. His song was joined by many others from both sides of the fight. The French, the British and the Germans all began singing, greeting one another cordially, sharing food and drink and even helping one another to bury their dead. The fighting had ceased in the name of Jesus Christ, the newborn King.

Even though we are not currently participating in a world war, our souls still hang in the balance between time and eternity. This Advent, we have been making war on our passions, our attachments to the things of the world and to ourselves. Tonight at midnight, the King of Peace will come into our souls bringing with Him many graces and lights according to the dispositions of our souls. He calls for a cease fire in order to bring us the plenitude of His grace.

- by Jane Carver

2 Responses

Rowena

January 02, 2019

thank you so much fir sharing the story very inspiring..

William Rudolph

January 02, 2019

This brought tears to my eyes. Thank you very much. I’d like to share also that I spent three Christmases in the coastal waters of Vietnam in the 1960s. During a refueling operation On December 25, 1965, I was on the fuel station on my ship at the rail maintaining sound powered telephone communication with my counterpart on the other ship. The phone lines were always supposed to be clear of anything but official business. But nothing that day seemed official because it was Christmas. It was completely quiet. I asked my counterpart on the other ship if he would like to hear the story of the first Christmas from the Bible, and he said yes. And I read from the Gospel of Luke and then from the Gospel of Matthew. No one interrupted our conversation and he thanked me for it. It just seemed the thing to do at the moment. Merry Christmas

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