It might be a bit strange to designate a post about Lessons and Carols as Epiphany. The famous King's College, Cambridge, performance of Nine Lessons and Carols is on Christmas Eve. Many churches perform the collection of Christmas songs, scripture readings, and writings in the days leading up to Christmas. But at our parish a visiting choir performs the Ceremony of Lessons and Carols during the Epiphany octave. So for me, it's Epiphany.
I love choral music and the performance of Lessons and Carols is a favorite of mine. Typically, it is my husband who occasionally escapes the household craziness of the evening for Mass. But when Lessons and Carols is performed, it is my turn to head to church and let him deal with dinner and bedtime preparations. This year I took Baby Anne with me just in case she needed to be fed.
Walking into a choral event with a 6 week old might not seem like the best idea. While babies at this age sleep a lot, you never know when they are going to let out a piercing scream. I assumed she would fall asleep in the car during the drive to our parish and remain sleeping throughout the performance. But she surprised me by being quite awake when I pulled her out of the car and very alert when we walked into the church. So as I chose a seat, I mapped out my quickest exits and hoped that Anne's apparent affinity for choral music was real and would kick in.
During Anne's birth and in the early days of her life, I listened to the music of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles. It didn't take us long to notice that Anne often stopped crying when I played the nun's Advent from Ephesus album. The music must have been sublimely peaceful to her in contrast to the constant screaming, running and poking of her two older sisters. So I sat in the pew hoping that Lessons and Carols would prove equally peaceful to her.
I love choral music and the performance of Lessons and Carols is a favorite of mine. Typically, it is my husband who occasionally escapes the household craziness of the evening for Mass. But when Lessons and Carols is performed, it is my turn to head to church and let him deal with dinner and bedtime preparations. This year I took Baby Anne with me just in case she needed to be fed.
Walking into a choral event with a 6 week old might not seem like the best idea. While babies at this age sleep a lot, you never know when they are going to let out a piercing scream. I assumed she would fall asleep in the car during the drive to our parish and remain sleeping throughout the performance. But she surprised me by being quite awake when I pulled her out of the car and very alert when we walked into the church. So as I chose a seat, I mapped out my quickest exits and hoped that Anne's apparent affinity for choral music was real and would kick in.
During Anne's birth and in the early days of her life, I listened to the music of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles. It didn't take us long to notice that Anne often stopped crying when I played the nun's Advent from Ephesus album. The music must have been sublimely peaceful to her in contrast to the constant screaming, running and poking of her two older sisters. So I sat in the pew hoping that Lessons and Carols would prove equally peaceful to her.
Our parish, St. Rita Church in Alexandria, Virginia, has a very British look to it, making it the perfect setting for choral concert of Anglican origin. As the lights dimmed in the stone building and the choir began the processional, Once in Royal David's City, Anne settled quietly into my arms and I relaxed, confident that my baby was going to sleep and that I could be absorbed into the tranquil atmosphere that surrounded me. Soon my mind wandered, not to Bethlehem, but to my own house on Christmas Eve a few weeks earlier. My husband had gone to midnight Mass. Meg and Clare slept upstairs. I sat in my rocking chair with Anne looking at the white lights on our Christmas tree and listening to this same song. I had been preparing presents for Christmas morning but Anne had woken up and I was trying to calm her. Using my phone, I found a YouTube posting of the Nine Lessons and Carols at King's College and we gently rocked to the soothing music. I have a feeling Lessons and Carols will be a special tradition for Anne and me--always reminding me of these special early weeks in her life.
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