Phillips Brooks

“O little town of Bethlehem

How still we see thee lie

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep

The silent stars go by

Yet in thy dark streets shineth

The everlasting Light

The hopes and fears of all the years

Are met in thee tonight”

Hymn 79, The Hymnal 1982, “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” verse 1

The imagery in the poetry of the hymn “O Little Town of Bethlehem” is beautiful and this beloved Christmas hymn was written by an Episcopal priest, Phillips Brooks. Although most people would recognize the hymn first, there was far more to the life of Phillips Brooks than being a hymn writer. Lesser Feasts and Fasts tells us that Brooks was born in Boston in 1835 and began his ministry in Philadelphia. “After ten years in Philadelphia, he returned to Boston as rector of Trinity Church, which was destroyed in the Boston fire three years later. It is a tribute to Brooks’ preaching, character, and leadership that in four years of worshiping in a temporary and bare surroundings, the congregation grew and flourished.”^[i]

Some say Brooks was the greatest preacher of the century and that he “ministered with tenderness, understanding and warm friendliness.”^[ii] In 1891, he was elected Bishop of Massachusetts and then died in 1893. “His constant concern was to turn his hearers’ thoughts to the revelations of God. ‘Whatever happens,’ he wrote, ‘always remember the mysterious richness of human nature and the nearness of God to each one of us.’”^[iii] As we sing the tender words of ”O Little Town of Bethlehem,” I believe that Phillips Brooks has succeeded in his mission to turn our thoughts to the revelation of God.

“O holy Child of Bethlehem

Descend to us, we pray

Cast out our sin and enter in

Be born to us today

We hear the Christmas angels

The great glad tidings tell

O come to us, abide with us

Our Lord Emmanuel”

Hymn 79, The Hymnal 1982, “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” verse 5

[i] Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2006, page 142.

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] Ibid.