Today's Selection

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

The words of this carol were written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow pictured on the right. The music is by John B. Calkin who served as or­gan­ist, pre­cent­or and choir­mas­ter at St. Co­lum­ba’s Coll­ege in Ire­land, and at var­i­ous church­es in Lon­don. He was al­so a pro­fess­or at the Guild­hall School of Mu­sic and Croy­don Con­serv­a­to­ry.