Advent Lessons and Carols from a Choir School in Canada Tomorrow

The St John Choir Schola in Calgary, Alberta, will hold its annual Lessons and Carols service tomorrow, Gaudete Sunday, at 7:30pm local time (MST), livestreamed on YouTube from Our Lady of the Assumption Church: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQF62SbjhYI. Due to pandemic restrictions, all of the beautiful music was pre-recorded at the schola while the choirs were still in session. The full program can be seen here, and an abbreviated form with just the lyrics of the hymns here. The service will be will also be recorded and available on the same YouTube channel for those in different time zones who would like to watch it later.

Advent Lessons and Carols in San Diego This Sunday

This Sunday, St Augustine of Canterbury, a church of the Ordinariate in San Diego, will present Advent Lessons and Carols in the English tradition, starting at 5:00 pm, with a reception to follow; those who attend are invited to make free will offering. The church will welcome as special guests the San Diego Youth Schola, the Tyburn Choristers Schola from Holy Martyrs of England & Wales Catholic Church, and the Brothers of the Little Oratory in San Diego. The event will be held at the church were the community regularly celebrates the liturgy, the St Thérèse Chapel on the Cathedral Catholic High School Campus, located at 5555 Del Mar Heights Road in San Diego.

PLEASE NOTE! Due to an error on my part, this post originally said Saturday instead of Sunday; the latter is the correct day.

Lessons and Carols Tomorrow in Baltimore

Mount Calvary Catholic Church in Baltimore, Maryland, is hosting an Advent Lessons and Carols service in the tradition made famous by King’s College, Cambridge: the history of salvation is told, from the Fall to the advent of the Messiah, through nine readings of Scripture that are alternated with carols, hymns and choir music. The service starts at 4 pm this Sunday, December 8, and will be followed by a wine-and-dessert reception; for more information, see the Facebook event page. The church is located at 816 N. Eutaw Street in Midtown Baltimore; freewill donations will be accepted in support of the church’s ministries.

Recording of Advent Lessons and Carols at the Pontifical Institute for Sacred Music

Good news from the Eternal City. Last week there was an Advent Lessons and Carols concert in Rome, with a choir made up of students from the Pontifical Institute for Sacred Music, as well as a number of lay and religious students in Rome, under the direction of Sr. Rosemary, O.P. (from Nashville). It was their first performance, with a lovely selection of pieces. A full recording of the ceremony and music is available:

During the concert, images from Fra Angelico’s work that corresponded to the music were projected; the same images are used in the YouTube video. Thank you, Sr. Rosemary, and all the students who participated in this most worthwhile enterprise. As our editor likes to say (taking his cue from Pope Benedict XVI), evangelize through beauty!