OBERNDORF, Austria - Each year, December 24, a special passenger train pulled by a bright red electric locomotive heads out of the train station in Salzburg for a half hour trip to the village of Oberndorf. A multitude of languages can be heard as passengers from all over the world become Christmas pilgrims, heading for the birthplace of the world's best loved Christmas carol "Silent Night."

Throughout the world, "Silent Night" which has been translated into more than 200 languages, is an anchor for Christmas celebrations. Its lullaby-like melody and simple message of heavenly peace can be heard from small town street corners in mid-America to magnificent cathedrals in Europe, and from outdoor candlelight concerts in Australia to palm thatched huts in northern Peru.

180 years ago, the carol "Sille Nacht! Heilige Nacht" was heard for the first time in the village of Oberndorf, Austria. The congregation at the Midnight Mass in St. Nicholas Church listened as the voices of the assistant pastor, Fr. Joseph Mohr, and the choir director, Franz Xaver Gruber, rang through the church to the accompaniment of Fr. Mohr's guitar. On each of the six verses, the choir repeated the last two lines in four- part harmony.

On that Christmas Eve, a song was born that would wing its way into the hearts of people throughout the world. History has many stories that tell of the writing of "Silent Night", and why it was accompanied by a guitar. Some say mice chewed holes in the bellows and Mohr was forced to write the song because the organ would not play. A recent film created for Austrian television includes evil railroad barons and a double-dealing priest, while a book by a German author places a Zither ( a musical instument with 30-40 strings) in the hands of Franz Gruber and connects Joseph Mohr with a tragic fire engulfing the city of Salzburg.

The German words for the original six stanzas of the carol we know as "Silent Night" were written by Joseph Mohr in 1816, when he was a young priest assigned to a pilgrimage church in Mariapfarr, Austria. His grandfather lived nearby, and it is easy to imagine that he could have come up with the words while walking through the countryside on a visit to his elderly relative. The fact is, we have no idea if any particular event inspired Mohr to pen his poetic version of the birth of the Christchild. The world is fortunate, however, that he didn't leave it behind when he was transferred to Oberndorf the following year (1817).

On December 24, 1818 Joseph Mohr journeyed to the home of musician-schoolteacher Franz Gruber who lived in an apartment over the schoolhouse in nearby Arnsdorf. He showed his friend the poem and asked him to add a melody and guitar accompaniment so that it could be sung at Midnight Mass. His reason for wanting the new carol is unknown. Some speculate the organ wouldn't work; others felt that he just wanted a new carol for Christmas.

Karl Mauracher, a master organ builder and repairman from Ziller Valley, traveled to Orberndorf to work on the organ several times in the years to follow. While doing his work in St. Nicholas, he obtained a copy of the composition and took it home with him. Thus, the simple carol, began its journey around the world as a "Tyrolean folk Song".

By the time the song had become famous throughout Europe, Joseph Mohr had died and the composer was unknown. Although Franz Gruber wrote to music authorities in Berlin stating that he was the composer, the melody had been assumed to be the work of Haydn, Mozart or Beethoven at various times and these thoughts persisted even into the 19th century. The controversy was put to rest four years ago when a long-lost arrangement of "Stille Nacht" in the hand of Joseph Mohr was authenticated. In the upper right hand corner of the arrangement, Mohr wrote "Melodie von Fr. Xav. Gruber."

Fr. Joseph Mohr's final resting place is a tiny Alpine ski resort, Wagrain. He was born into poverty in Salzburg in 1792 and died penniless in Wagrain in 1848, where he had been assigned as pastor of the church. He had donated all his earnings to be used for eldercare and education of children in the area. His memorial from the townspeople is the Joseph Mohr School located a dozen yards from his grave. The overseer of St. Johann's, in a report to the bishop, described Mohr as "a reliable friend of mankind, toward the poor, a gentle, helping father."

The original church of St. Nicholas where "Silent Night" was first heard in 1818 was torn down in the early part of the 1900's after sustaining damage from flooding waters of the nearby Salzach River. The Silent Night Chapel erected on the spot in front of the main altar where Franz Gruber and Joseph Mohr stood with the choir to sing the six-stanza chorus. In a higher section of town, another church was built with the originals pulpit and altars from the old church when moved there. At Christmas Midnight Mass, singers stand in front of the same altars and recreate the moment when the song heard 'round the world was first performed.

Merry Christmas to all,

Dan Shepherd