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Campus to Welcome Advent with Lessons and Carols
In honor of Advent, the student choir at Thomas Aquinas College, California, will commemorate the season of reflection and anticipation of Christ’s coming with the campus’s first-ever Advent Lessons and Carols service, on Sunday, December 8.
Originally created in 1880 to draw revelers off the streets and into the church on Christmas Eve, Lessons and Carols is one of the most well-known Christian church services in the world. The service features nine Scripture readings — or “lessons” — which recount stories of humanity’s fall from grace, the centuries of yearning and anticipation in the Old Testament, and finally, the Incarnation, which brings to fruition all that was foretold by the prophets. Each lesson is accompanied by related hymns that reflect on the text.
“Lessons and Carols is more than simply a concert,” says Vice President for Advancement Dr. John J. Goyette. “It is a musical oratory which encompasses readings from the prophets and the Gospels, commemorating the birth of Christ, the promise of the Messiah, and love of Our Lady.”
The event also serves as an occasion to give thanks to the College’s benefactors. “Lessons and Carols seemed like a great way to prepare for Christmas, inspire our students, and give something back to our benefactors,” says Dr. Goyette. “We wanted to try something that would resonate with what we do here on campus: pursuing the truth with friends and ordered ultimately to the truth that is Christ himself.”
Students are excited for the service, especially those in the choir. “I’m looking forward to this event,” says Benedict Seeley (’28). “The music itself will be enjoyable and beautiful, and I also think that it will be a helpful and solemn way to prepare for Christmas.” Fellow choir member Rose Grimm (’26) agrees: “I think that it may encourage more people to listen to older choral works more carefully and appreciate them more deeply.”
For the past few months, the choir, led by Daniel Grimm (’76), has practiced a myriad of beautiful hymns and polyphony pieces for the service, including choir favorites Maria durch ein dornwald ging and Morten Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium. “I think that bringing this tradition to campus will allow the College’s community to appreciate our choir even more,” says Elizabeth Kolesar (’27).
With Advent now under way, all are greatly anticipating the start of this new tradition. “This will be a great way for us to get ready for Christmas as a campus,” says Dr. Goyette.
Advent Lessons and Carols will take place at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 8, in Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel. It is open, free of charge, to all alumni and friends of the College.