Feast of St. Nicholas 2024
Petit Papa Noël (Little Father Christmas) was composed by Henri Martinet, with lyrics by Raymond Vincy. This song was performed by Tino Rossi and recorded in 1946, in post-World War II France. It was also performed by Rossi in the 1946 film Destins, which was directed by Richard Pottier.
This celluloid tale of good vs. evil may have become neglected, down the years, but this song lives on. The spirit of hope and redemption persists, often with elegiac passion, in the hearts of French citizens. Those adults, as children, grew up listening to the sublime voice of Tino Rossi; or they knew of parents and grandparents who sang the hymn-like tune on Christmas Eve. Many French patriots long to hear it again, with the simplicity and sincerity of that long-ago era in the history of a France that presently is an imperiled nation.
The yearning for this type of innocence during Noël is eternal, and vital. Petit Papa Noël is, in essence, a hymn, with a soul, and a life of its own. Created by mortals gifted with a higher purpose, this composition was, logically, divinely inspired, and, thus, is a supreme work of art.
The glorious angelic tenor of Tino Rossi perfectly fits this melody, like a sublime hand in an even more sublime glove. His voice evokes an indefinable, yet integral joy, for the human heart. His instrument also expresses the desire for that wonderful, but ephemeral, joy to become permanent. That wish is so abundantly human that is a universal need, at least it is for those individuals with heart.
The heart of Mr. Rossi was no exception to that profound aspiration that seeks kindness, certainty and stability amidst a world of savage turmoil and corrupt chaos. Rossi had profoundly known the trauma and betrayals of France en guerre, France at war. His beautiful voice expresses exuberant hope for life to begin again, anew, with the wonderment of an innocent child at Noël.
The Ineffable works in that way: bringing to life, bringing back to life the irretrievable that we’d all too humanly thought we’d lost. Is this humble supplication of the heart not the definition of hope, and faith, come to life during any season, but especially during Christmastide?
Can we believe in doom if we dare to dream, and to fly, as on the wings of angels, toward the tomorrow of hope, and faith? For what else is faith but the tender, yet mighty belief in things unseen. Blessed assurance is the human heart exalting in redemption of the soul. It’s the exaltation of every-day expectations that aspire to the sky, toward Heaven. The realization of redemption is the gift of Papa Noël.
Redemption brings to the ravaged heart the all-encompassing emotion that transcends definition. There occurs the lightness of being that is indefinable, yet undeniable, especially after grievous sorrow has nearly darkened our faith — that faith of our fathers — in the firm foundation of the Almighty. For the proud fighter to take one more step, forward, with unshakeable faith in the will of God, is to defy the savage face of cruelty. Such courage affirms there is a God, a merciful and benevolent Giver of life, of love, of all things.
This song, released to the French people just after the Liberation in 1944, possesses a destiny that it fulfilled in 1946, and continues to fulfill, to this day, for France, even for my nation, America. And, yet, in the film presentation of this song, in 1946, the voice of Tino Rossi, his eyes, the graceful lineaments of his face are sad, wistful, even mournful. This patriot and member of the French Resistance was heroically rising, through music, above the almost indelible losses and anguish of Occupied France during World War II.
This magnificent rendition is as filled with beauty as it is with tender lamentation. As the decades have flowed, one by one, since that divine Day of Liberation, the patriotic citizens of France yearn, once again, to experience the wonderment of childhood; the rebirth of the wild and pure hope of a conscience that seeks virtue; and the spark of magic, l’étincelle de magie, while listening to this children’s Christmas carol by a French patriot and member of the French Resistance.
This version, however, is not the original, though it is the one that most remains in the hearts of French children, young and old. The original song was performed by Xavier Lemercier and released in 1944, with the war still ongoing. Even after the Day of Liberation in August 1944, the atrocities by the Nazi Germans persisted, and escalated throughout France.
The original lyrics form a prayer from a child, wishing for a cadeau de Noël, a Christmas present. This gift would be the return of his father who remains a prisoner-of-war in Germany. The version by Rossi eliminates any mention or allusion to the war in this film called Destins.
Destins, Destinies, or Fate, are precisely what is interwoven in each line of this timeless song. The untarnished, truthful, and tearfully sincere wishes, desires, and dreams of a child suffuse the voice of Rossi, and flow through the simple but moving strains of very straight-forward music that is meant to touch the heart.
It has been said among Christians that the night when the greatest number of souls know bliss is Christmas Eve, la veille de Noël. This composition speaks clearly about Petit Papa Noël. It speaks also of Jesus Christ, the babe born in the manger of an ancient time. Cette ère d’antan, that bygone era, was not too unlike our own: viciously torn apart by enmity between tribes, hatred between races, and war between empires.
On this night of nights, let us ask our hearts to beat like that of a child. That blessed belief and fervent faith in the love of God is the saving grace of mankind.
Let us aspire to create a heaven on earth, and become Petit Papa Noël on this night, la veille de Noël, and on every night. Those spaces of time that we possess here, on Earth, are the truest gifts to us from our Maker.
From generation to generation, those moments, like the fir tree, are evergreen. They are granted eternity — through the gift of song.
Noël 2024
Petit Papa Noël
C’est la belle nuit de Noël
La neige étend son manteau blanc
Et les yeux levés vers le ciel,
À genoux les petits enfants
Avant de fermer les paupières
Font une dernière prière . . .
Petit Papa Noël
Quand tu descendras du ciel
Avec des jouets par milliers
N’oublies pas mon petit soulier.
Mais avant de partir
Il faudra bien te couvrir
Dehors, tu vas avoir si froid
C’est un peu à cause de moi.
Il me tarde tant que le jour se lève
Pour voir si tu m’as apporté
Tous les beaux joujoux que je vois en rêve
Et que je t’ai commandés.
Petit Papa Noël
Quand tu descendras du ciel
Avec des jouets par milliers
N’oublies pas mon petit soulier.
Le marchand de sable est passé
Les enfants vont faire dodo
Et vas pouvoir commencer
Avec la hotte sur le dos
Au son des cloches des églises
Ta distribution de surprises.
Petit Papa Noël
Quand tu descendras du ciel
Avec des jouets par milliers
N’oublies pas mon petit soulier.
Et si tu dois t’arrêter
Sur les toits du monde entier
Tout ça avant demain matin,
Mets-toi vite, vite en chemin.
Et quand tu seras sur ton beau nuage,
Viens d’abord sur notre maison,
Je n’ai pas été tous les jours bien sage,
Mais j’en demande pardon.
Petit Papa Noël
Quand tu descendras du ciel
Avec des jouets par milliers
N’oublies pas mon petit soulier.
N’oublies pas mon petit soulier . . .
Petit Papa Noël.
English translation
Tis the beautiful night of Noël
The snow spreads her white mantle
And eyes raised to heaven,
Kneeling little children
Before closing their eyelids
Say one last prayer
Little Father Noël
When you descend from the sky
With toys by the thousands
Don’t forget my little shoe.
But before leaving
You’ll have to cover up
Outside, you’ll be so cold
It’s a little because of me.
I can't wait for the day to dawn
To see if you've brought me
All the beautiful toys that
I see in my dreams
And that I asked from you.
Little Father Noël
When you descend from the sky
With toys by the thousands
Don’t forget my little shoe.
The sandman has come by
The children are going to sleep
And you can get started
With the sack on your back
To the sound of church bells
Your distribution of surprises.
Little Father Noël
When you descend from the sky
With toys by the thousands
Don’t forget my little shoe.
And if you have to stop
On rooftops
All over the world
All before tomorrow morning,
Hurry, hurry, hurry
on your way.
And when you’re on
Your beautiful cloud,
Come first to our house,
I haven’t been a good boy every day,
But I ask your forgiveness.
Little Father Noël
When you descend from the sky
With toys by the thousands
Don’t forget my little shoe,
Don’t forget my little shoe . . .
Little Father Noël.