There’s a story I’ve heard about St. Thomas Becket, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, being martyred at an evening mass in Canterbury Cathedral. As a child, I was obsessed with Henry VIII child and read that Becket was martyred during his reign. I hadn’t realized that it happened in the sanctuary of a cathedral, though.
Because Becket died during what should have been a vespers service, singing carols and praying felt like an appropriate way to commemorate today. (I also added a small glass of wine to the proceedings).
There are so many carols that I love it is hard to pick one. Music is made more difficult by brain fog (I’m still sick). But music is a great force of healing, so the brain fog does not matter as much. Even humming or tapping a rhythm makes me happier and clears the fog away, for a time. There are a lot of old favorites: Silent Night, The First Noel, The Holly and the Ivy, and I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. I did a lot of singing this December and it always makes the Christmas time that much more special. I wish more people would celebrate the twelve days of Christmas so we could keep singing all of these carols. So many of them express the beauty of Christ’s coming through the lens of different cultures. Silent Night is German, The First Noel is French, the Holly and the Ivy is English, and I Heard the Bells is American. For next year, I would love to research and learn carols from other parts of the world.
Here’s one of my favorite settings of a Christmas carol. This is called the Huron carol, and it is believed to be one of the first songs written by Christians in the New World.
For prayer time, my brain felt foggy still, so I opted to use Douglas McKelvey’s Every Moment Holy to help me focus.
Two of my favorites prayers that I used tonight are from his Sundry Moments section. I prayed this one for members of my family.
God, as I hold ______ a moment in my thoughts
I ask that you would hold them eternally in Yours,
remaining ever at work in their heart and life,
even now directing their paths toward Your good ends.
This one is for being moved by a song or a piece of music. It felt very appropriate for a night where I sang carols and listened to choirs.
O Lord, let such melodies penetrate my heart’s defenses,
gently revealing old wounds unto their eventual healings,
gently stirring eternal longings unto the restoration of hope.
Tune my heart, my mind, my life,
to voice your melodies, O God.
I hope this day finds you well and still celebrating the birth of our Lord. Merry Christmas!
All Things: 