O Come, All Ye Faithful

In modern English hymnals, the text is usually credited to John Francis Wade, whose name appears on the earliest printed versions.

In 1751 he published a printed compilation of his manuscript copies, Cantus Diversi pro Dominicis et Festis per annum.

Later in the 18th century, the French Catholic priest Jean-François-Étienne Borderies [fr] wrote an additional three verses in Latin.

The hymn tune also made its way to the Sacred Harp tradition, appearing as "Hither Ye Faithful, Haste with Songs of Triumph" in an 1860 collection.

[11] With "Herbei, o ihr Gläub'gen" a German translation of the Latin text was published in 1823 by Friedrich Heinrich Ranke.

Therefore, he who was born on this day; O Jesus, to thee be the glory, Word of the eternal Father made flesh, Come, let us adore (3x) the Lord.

Stella duce, Magi Christum adorantes, Aurum, tus et myrrham dant munera.

Æterni Parentis splendorem æternum Velatum sub carne videbimus Deum infantem pannis involutum Venite adoremus (3×) Dominum.

See how the shepherds, summoned to His cradle, Leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze; We too will thither bend our joyful footsteps; O come, let us adore Him, (3×) Christ the Lord.

Although, as previously stated, the hymn’s exact sources and origins remain unproven, there is universal agreement among musicologists that it was through the efforts of Catholic layman and music copyist John Francis Wade that it first appeared in print.

Wade himself fled to France after the Jacobite rising of 1745 was crushed, and his liturgical books were often decorated with Jacobite imagery[citation needed] (for context, the aim of the rebellion had been to restore a Catholic monarch – Charles Edward Stuart, popularly known as “Bonnie Prince Charlie[14]” – to the throne of England).

These aspects of Wade’s life and political leanings have given rise to speculation that he might have intended for Adeste Fideles to be a ciphered birth ode to the Jacobite’s Young Pretender.

This theory regarding the hymn’s meaning has been most recently proposed by Professor Bennett Zon, head of music at Durham University.

It essentially holds that "the song’s original Latin version was actually a coded rallying cry for the Stewart cause".

Namely: In performance, verses are often omitted – either because the hymn is too long in its entirety or because the words are unsuitable for the day on which they are sung.

Adeste Fideles is traditionally the final anthem during Midnight Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.