A Festival of Lessons and Carols for Advent

An ecumenical worship service of St. Mark’s Episcopal Chapel, St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Chapel, and Storrs Congregational Church UCC.

Sunday, December 7
3:00 pm

at St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Chapel
(46 North Eagleville Rd., Storrs)

The combined voices of our three churches will join together to usher in a new liturgical year following a tradition that began humbly in England in 1880. The Christmas Eve “Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols” was eventually established in its current format in 1918 and through broadcasts continues to be enjoyed around the world to this day.

An adaptation of this tradition for the pre-Christmas season of Advent, this year’s Festival of Lessons and Carols is woven around the seven ancient “O” Antiphons that were sung at Vespers on the successive evenings of the final days before Christmas. Each antiphon names an attribute of Christ. They are familiar many in the paraphrased poetry of the Advent hymn “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”.

We invite you to share in this wonderful tradition of music and readings and make it a part of your Advent journey.