One of the most uplifting of the ancient carols, “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” is the product of two men who were persecuted for their religious convictions, endured and died in relative obscurity, never accepted by the church they loved. Though both vowed to serve the Lord and take the message of salvation to a lost world, both probably believed they had accomplished little of lasting value as they struggled to follow their call. For Heinrich Suso and John Mason Neale, nothing could have been farther from the truth. Heinrich was largely insulated from a world where only a precious few did more than endure each passing day. Poverty and disease were everywhere. The aptly named Dark Age was a time of cruelty, prejudice, and despair. A separation of people into social classes meant the very small, elite branch had almost everything and the rest of society had nothing.
Sadly, there was no movement between classes; if you were born without means, you were doomed to live and die that way. And if you were born, for every laugh there were a thousand cries. Suso, who could have risen through his family ranks to a ruling status in his native land, instead chose to be a servant. Accepting a call to the priesthood, he became a Dominican monk. If all he had done was serve in parish, he would have probably remained unknown. Yet in 1326, the priest felt moved to write the Little Book of truth, a vibrant defense of progressive thinking in the church. In his work, Suso justified taking the gospel and opening it in a way that would brink hope, compassion, and understanding to the common people. But instead of being hold up as a man who truly understood the message that Jesus had brought to the earth, the priest was tried for heresy. Rather than still his voice, Suso felt a call to continue what he saw as a divine war. A year later, the unrepentant monk continued his battle with figures of authority by penning the Little Book of Eternal Wisdom. Unlike most religious books of the time, this one was essentially a practical work written in simple language. It wasn’t for clerics of professors, it was for the common people. This was a radical concept. Who would dare think that simple people would have an interest in understanding God and the message he brought to the world in the form of Christ?
Unable to control the priest and afraid that his radical thinking might cause a revolt, in 1329 the Pope condemned Suso. Eventually the German King exiled him. Suso fled to Switzerland. For a man born of noble blood, exile was the ultimate humiliation. Over the course of the next few years, the well-meaning priest suffered vicious persecution and slander. Yet, even in the face of death threats, he refused to turn this back on the church, his calling or his desire to share the gospel with the masses.
Wanting to bring joy to the practice of the Christian faith, Suso preached of the happiness he found in walking with God. Many wondered how such a reviled man could find such blessing in life. He explained that God gave him peace and inspiration during every walking hour, and even while he rested. It was during the latter that the priest was given a vehicle to carry his message to the people.
One night, Suso found himself immerse in a dream so real that he became a part of it. In his day the priest saw countless angels not only singing, but dancing. He listened as they sang, and eventually joined with them in “an ecstatic dance.” When he awoke, he not only remembered the dream in vivid detail, but also recalled the words and the music. Feeling led by divine guidance, Suso picked up a quill and in and recorded “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” to paper. Until his death in 1366, he continued to reach the common man with this song and its message.
'Good Christian Men, Rejoice' Was as radical a hymn as Suso’s thinking was progressive. Christian music of that era was usually solemn, based totally on Scripture, and never written in the common language. Suso had broken all three rules. His song embraced the joy of being a believer and enjoined a spirit whole any child could understand. Although it was not immediately accepted by the church itself, the German people quickly and enthusiastically took the song to heart. They believed that just as Suso had been a priest to the common people, his song was a song for them as well.
It would be more than 150 years before the carol inspired by a priest’s dream found its way to print, but just because it wasn’t published didn’t mean that the song didn’t inspire other writers in Germany – including Martin Luther – to compose hymns in the common language for the common people. Suso’s radical thinking became part of the primary foundation for a revolution in the way most people viewed their relationship with Christ. Even the Catholic church would come to realize that the priest had been right, and in 1831 the Pope canonized Heinrich Suso.
