It is an adjective that comes from the verb “triumpho,” which means “to hold or celebrate a triumph” or, and even more specifically, “to make a triumphal procession.” In the Roman Empire, this word had militaristic connotations and would no doubt have been used as returning armies celebrated their victories with great parades.
To fully appreciate this carol, we need to look at the word “triumphantes” in the first couple lines of the text: “Adeste fideles, laeti triumphantes.” The standard English translation translates this word simply as “triumphant.” However, “triumphantes” has more implications than simply denoting an emotion or a state of being. Early hymnals offer a variety of melodies for this text, but it is now sung exclusively to the tune ADESTE FIDELES that may have been composed by English composers John Reading (1645-92) or Thomas Arne (1710-78), or possibly even King John IV of Portugal (1604-56), a composer in his own right. Wade was a Catholic layman who fled England during the Jacobean rebellion of 1745 eventually settling in France. 1711-86) during a time when Latin was the language of academia.
The text was written by John Francis Wade (c. While the text of the Latin Christmas carol “ Of the Father’s Love Begotten” is almost 2,000 years old having been penned only a few hundred years after the birth of Christ, “O Come, All Ye Faithful” is rather young in the history of sacred music being not even 275 years old.
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