The Christmas Nines 2011
Every year at this time, my something beautiful podcast crew attempt to put something special together for a holiday episode.
This year, busyness and all, we were able to put together our second “Nines” episode.
What is a “Nines” episode you ask?
It’s our Christmas episode based on a 19th Century liturgy.
From Wikipedia:
The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is a format for a service of Christian worship celebrating the birth of Jesus that is traditionally followed at Christmas. The story of the fall of humanity, the promise of the Messiah, and the birth of Jesus is told in nine short Bible readings from Genesis, the prophetic books and the Gospels, interspersed with the singing of Christmas carols, hymns and choir music.
The format was based on an Order drawn up by Edward White Benson, later Archbishop of Canterbury but at that time Bishop of Truro, in Cornwall, for use on Christmas Eve (24 December) 1880. Tradition says that he organized a 10 pm service on Christmas Eve in a temporary wooden shed serving as his cathedral and that a key purpose of the service was to keep men out of pubs on Christmas Eve.
The original liturgy has since been adapted and used by other churches all over the world. Lessons and Carols most often occur in Anglican churches, but also in some Roman Catholic, Lutheran parishes, and Presbyterian institutions. However numerous Christian churches have adopted this service, or a variation on this service, as part of their Christmas celebrations. In the UK, the service has become the standard format for schools’ Christmas carol services.
It’s an hour long and features some great indie artists singing some great Christmas songs between nine different Scripture readings.
I hope you’ll take some time and give it a listen.
And either way – Merry Christmas to you and yours! Have a wonderful holiday week (or weeks) and I’ll see you back here in 2012!
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Merry Christmas! I’ll listen to this when I have some quiet time during my crazy week with grandkids.
I have been in choirs where we presented and sang “Nine Lessons and Carols” and enjoyed the doing the programs.