The Advent Calendar: Day 22

Apart from a nice glass of Shloer (I absolutely love Shloer), a Christmas carol is the one thing always guaranteed to get me in the festive mood. I love almost all of them, I love the tunes, I love the words and I love the way they sound when being performed, whether by a choir or a brass band or a slightly tuneless congregation. Sure, Christmas pop songs are all well and good (especially ‘Last Christmas’), but none of them give me a lovely warm, cosy feeling the way carols do.

Of course, there are lots of different kinds of carols. You’ve got the children’s favourites, like ‘Away in a Manger’ or the slightly cheesy ‘Crackers and Turkeys’, which always excited me when I was young because it mentioned Christmas tree lights. Then there are the more poetic ones, like the historically inaccurate but beautiful ‘In the Bleak Mid-Winter’ or my personal favourite ‘Love Came Down at Christmas’. You’re guaranteed to find me singing my heart out to the rousing carols, like ‘Joy to the World’ and ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’. And, of course, there are the really famous ones, like ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’, ‘Silent Night’, which does actually have more than one verse, something the producers of The X Factor and Little Mix didn’t seem to know, and the truly magnificent ‘Once in Royal David’s City’.

Now, as lovely as it is to hear these carols sung by a soloist or an expert choir, for me, carols are really most brilliant when they’re being sung by a full congregation, and the best place to experience that is at a service of carols by candlelight. I know I look forward to this part of the build up to Christmas every single year, and I’m never disappointed. I love everything about it, from the atmosphere created by the candles to the way you can get yourself lost in the dark and the sound of the voices ringing out. When it’s a service of nine lessons and carols, where the story of Christmas is told through Bible readings and carols, it’s even more special. There’s just something exquisite about the way all the faff and noise of the festive period is stripped away, allowing the story and message to shine through.

Anyone interested in music, if you’re a Christian or not, should check out some carols this year. Christmas can be a pretty hectic and stressful time, so allow yourself a little rest from endless loops of Slade and Wizzard to listen to some of the lovely carols that will make you feel more peaceful and warm your heart a little. To get you started, here’s one of the best loved Christmas carols being sung by two brilliant Northern Irish singers, with a little bit of help from a brass band. Trust me, if you don’t feel Christmassy after this, then your name really must be Ebenezer Scrooge.

For yesterday's advent article, click here.

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