O Come, All Ye Faithful

Hymn on the Prose for Christmas Day

For Christmas

Words and Music: "Adeste Fideles," John Francis Wade, ca 1743
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer / PDF / XML
Meter: Irregular

Also known as the Portuguese Hymn

Translated by Edward Caswall (1814-1878), 1849, and Philip Schaff (1819-1893), 1870
Other Translations: Adeste, Fideles Translations

See: Notes on Adeste Fideles.

1. Oh, come, all ye faithful, triumphantly sing;
Come, see in the manger our Savior and King¹
To Bethlehem hasten with joyful accord;
Oh, come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!²

2. True Son of the Father, He comes from the skies;
To be born of a virgin He doth not despise.
To Bethlehem hasten with joyful accord;
Oh, come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

3. Hark, hark, to the angels all singing in heaven,³
"To God in the highest all glory be given!"
To Bethlehem hasten with joyful accord;
Oh, come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

4. To Thee, then, O Jesus, this day of Thy birth
Be glory and honor through heaven and earth,
True Godhead Incarnate, Omnipotent Word!
Oh, come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

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1. Or: Come, see in the manger the angels' dread King! Return

2. Another source substitutes the following for the last line in all verses:

O hasten! O hasten! to worship the Lord.
O hasten! O hasten! to worship the Lord. Return

3. Or: O hark to the angels... Return

All alternate phrases from The Methodist Hymnal (New York: The Methodist Book Concern, 1905), #125. Source of the original lost.

See and play the Noteworthy Composer score if you have installed the NoteWorthy Composer Browser Plug-in Adeste_Fideles Only tested by Noteworthy for Netscape, Opera, and IE Browsers (Versions 4 or 5) In my experience, it also works with Firefox.

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