We're having a nativity play...

[oopsorganist]

Yes indeed.
Before the 6.30 Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve we are having a nativity thingie - with brief reading, costumes, and traditional carols.
Including Silent Night and We Three Kings.

Sheesh how I hate Christmas.

[Ros Wood]

For some years now we have had the following format (with varying amount of acting/miming from the children) for 30 mins before our 7pm Christmas Eve Mass.

Ding, Dong merrily (to let people know we are starting and get quiet)
Zechariah is told Elisabeth will have a baby
Once in Royal
The Annunciation
Carol:The angel came from heaven
The Visitation
A version of the Magnificat
The Birth of John the Baptist
O little town
The Birth of Jesus (ending with the Shepherds arriving at the stable)

Then we begin Mass with the blessing of the crib.

We started this when the noise 30 minutes before Mass was just getting too much as the church is normally full by this stage.

Given that the Mass is geared towards children (we have Midnight Mass at Midnight),I think this works as it prepares everyone for Mass and gives a taste of Advent even if they have not been in church during Advent. No applause during the 30 mins before Mass - the children are thanked at the end of Mass.

[oopsorganist]

That sounds OK. Some thought has gone into that. I wonder if ours has been planned with the intention of meeting the needs of the disadvantaged community we serve. I doubt the event/selection will be produced in their parish!

There are plans for the list to include Little Donkey. I hope they do not expect me to play that on the organ. I would be unable to resist some form of subtle undermining.

Actually it is OK but I just hate Christmas Carols. You get them wall to wall in the supermarket why would you want the same stuff chugged out pre Christmas Mass.
I guess I am just a gop.
Just for once I would like to hear something Chrismassy that is not just so predictable.

[Peter]

Oops, your posts made me think of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln01p1M2cH0, which someone from my parish forwarded to me the other day in a chain of e-mails that included comments like "This is wonderful, please take time to listen to this song. It is so sad that even some of our local stores make their employees say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas." I couldn't bear to listen to the whole thing (I just found it too saccharine!) but even what I did hear gave me very mixed feelings. While I applaud its emphasis on celebrating the birth of Christ and getting away from the PC renaming of the feast as "Winterval" or other similarly ghastly alternatives*, the fact remains that November and December in pubs and shops have nothing to do with the Christmas we celebrate in church and no amount of insincere "Merry Christmas"sing long before Christmas has arrived will induce me to shop in a particular place. What I cannot accept about the link is its equation of "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" with "Silent Night" as equally valid or worthwhile Christmas songs. I've no wish to hear the former two ever again; I'm happy to hear, sing or play the latter in church on Christmas night - but avoid it as much as possible beforehand!

I share your loathing of the commercialisation of Christmas carols and their tawdry muzakification in shopping centres, which is why I steer clear of such places as much as possible at this time of the year. However, there's now a tendency for shops to play not traditional carols but more recent songs; there's one in particular, whose title, who wrote or performed it and so on I don't know, which I regard as one of the dreariest "Christmas" songs ever written - the merest hint of its refrain "So here it is, merry Christmas..." with its strange modulation is one of the things best calculated to send me running either for the ear-plugs or for the nearest exit!

Last year a lady at my church described our Advent liturgies as "dire". I haven't established exactly what it was she objected to, but I suspect it was that we used the same sort of traditional hymn tunes that we use the rest of the year instead of Christmas carols - which I did explain to her were not appropriate in Advent! In the past our policy was always not to anticipate Christmas: we sing carols at Midnight Mass but not before. It was only with the arrival of our present PP that we have preceded that Mass (except that it's now come forward to 9pm!), with a service of carols and readings, where we try to emphasise preparing to celebrate Christmas rather than actually doing so prematurely. This year the readings are mainly from http://thebillabong.info/lectionary/ide ... christmas/, looking at the Christmas story from the points of view of Joseph, the Innkeeper and Mary, plus one from the Iona Community. In the past we've generally had poems, such as "Christmas" by John Betjeman, which leads us nicely from the secular aspects of Christmas to what it's really all about.

Before the 6.30 Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve ... Including ... We Three Kings.

As far as we're concerned, that is strictly off-limits at Christmas - we save it for Epiphany!

Just for once I would like to hear something Chrismassy that is not just so predictable.

For my money, "In Freezing Winter Night" from Britten's "A Ceremony of Carols" says more about the real meaning of Christmas than any of the other traditional or modern carols, but its probably not "merry" enough for most people's tastes.


* What would the Muslims say if we adopted Ramadan nationally but renamed it "Slimming Month"?

[oopsorganist]

Oh I do so agree with all of the above Peter.
Except for "Here it is Merry Christmas" which I would like to play on the organ. It is just so unsuitable.

At alternative programme..
Here it is Merry Christmas interlude followed by
Theme tune to Doctor Who.

(That's the cosmic change to the universed covered then along with the comic change to the universe)

I suspect those that come to our Vigil leave it until some time in January before wending their way down to the church..... which is part of my problem. They have too much to do on Christmas Day to attend Mass.


While I will be going 3 times which is because I have nothing else to do. I just pop up for services then they take out the air and pack me away.

I like the songs from Cloth for a Cradle. I wish someone would sing those to me before Mass.
The Nativity has been planned by our school as a link between school and parish. Hosannah Rock would have been better.

[oopsorganist]

And so the running order pre Vigil Mass is -
Once in Royal David's City,
Little Donkey (apparently included because it is accessible to children and I do quote),
Away in a Manger,
Silent Night,
We Three Kings and
Hark the Herald Angels Sing.
(With brief readings and costumes).
I am not sure if it is expected that people congregating will be singing or the children who are performing.
Oooo the Liturgical Music Training of this area just must be getting better and better, eh?
As long as it is lovely I will cope. If it is not I might be just a little more irritated.....

I think Little Donkey would make a good choice for the Offertory during the Christmas Vigil Mass, don't you!

[VML]

I sympathise, Oops.
I covered the music/ crowd control of the 'children's' Mass for five years. It seems full of people who like to get the church bit finished as soon as possible, not just the playgroup families for whom it was started years ago. But I have to make myself see that they are there in church, and if that is the limit of their church attendance, who am I to criticise?
Now we have enough people to cover each Christmas Mass, including a teacher at the parish school who does the Vigil one with his family musicians, well amplified.
I bemoan the lack of any commitment to practise interesting and lesser known carols for our Midnight Mass, but have been persuaded, , by our PP that what people like is stuff they can sing, all the old familiar ones. So this year there has been no specific practice for MM, except for the St Paul Gloria which we learnt earlier in the year.
And actually I began to think back to my first Midnight Masses as a child, and how disappointing I found it when we had to stop having a jolly good sing, and listen to the choir singing something nice and unfamiliar. So maybe Father is right.
Christmas blessings to you and all here who do so much to enrich the liturgy in your parishes.

[Gwyn]

I began to think back to my first Midnight Masses as a child, and how disappointing I found it when we had to stop having a jolly good sing, and listen to the choir singing something nice and unfamiliar.

That's a very good point.

[oopsorganist]

I am averse to giving them a good sing song...... with no choir or resources it is my only option. It takes some doing actually - bearing in mind people don't really come to our church to have a good sing song!

The production is a link between school and parish therefore I will try to support it.
The irony is in the geographical situation and the funding allocated towards training our young........
but if it promotes parish cohesion then who I am to question the method and music choices of others. Mine can be a little odd and also I have been known to go for the lowest common denominator at Christmas. No point challenging those who only come the once every year and expect to sing Silent Night no matter what the readings are saying. The whole matter has to accessible to those whose involvement is limited. Not just the donkey thing.
I am trying to think quaint medieval mummery mystery plays/cute children with angels wings.....
But I keep thinking pantomime. It must be the donkey element.
Goes away muttering and trying to resist putting Away in a Manger in three times during the Mass with We Three Kings for the final piece of the plan......
You know, they could have consulted me. I'm not just an organ grinder!

[contrabordun]

getting away from the PC renaming of the feast as "Winterval" or other similarly ghastly alternatives

You do know this is an urban myth, don't you?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winterval

[JW]

I can sympathise with all the frustrations. I may be wrong, but it strikes me that this thread is really about: "Who is the music at Christmas services for?" Children? Those who come to church once a year? Those who attend regularly? Musicians? There's a clue in the term "music ministry".

There are some who think that its good and appropriate to schedule an EF Mass on Christmas Day (e.g. Birmingham Oratory's 10.30 Mass is an EF High Mass). I'm sure the music and choir will be lovely and many of us would love it. But is it really good for children - some of us remember being bored to tears by this sort of thing? There were very good reasons for involving the congregation more in the Mass.

Christmas is a good opportunity for evangelisation but the frustrations expressed here show how we music ministers go the extra mile to accommodate the needs of the parish. And there'll be that person who complains whatever we do....

I've decided I'm going to need a year's sabbatical in a few years time, to simply travel around and treat myself to the wonderful music going on in other churches and cathedrals.

Happy Christmas to everyone!

[Peter]

And so the running order pre Vigil Mass is -
Once in Royal David's City,
Little Donkey (apparently included because it is accessible to children and I do quote),
Away in a Manger,
Silent Night,
We Three Kings and
Hark the Herald Angels Sing.
(With brief readings and costumes)...

There was a series of programmes on Radio 4 over the last couple of weeks about the history of carolling and it mentioned that "Once in Royal David's City" was one of a series of hymns written to introduce children to various aspects of the Christian faith, so it is possible to make services accessible to children without resorting to "Little Donkey". Is "Little Donkey" in your hymnbook, by the way? It's ages since I've come across it but last time it was suggested for a children's Mass at my church I pointed out that it was still in copyright and didn't at the time appear to be covered by either the CCL or the Calamus licence.

Our Night Mass of Christmas (it's no longer at midnight) is preceded by carols and readings, which gives the congregation the opportunity for a sing-song. One member of the committee that chooses the readings is particularly keen to look for readings that appeal to children but which also have a message for adults, an approach that sees children catered for without being patronised.

getting away from the PC renaming of the feast as "Winterval" or other similarly ghastly alternatives

You do know this is an urban myth, don't you?

I didn't, and had a look at the link to Wikipedia which I almost felt "doth protest too much". It made me think of the principle stated in "Yes, Minister", that you should "never believe a rumour until it's been officially denied" though that's probably unfair.

[IncenseTom]

've decided I'm going to need a year's sabbatical in a few years time, to simply travel around and treat myself to the wonderful music going on in other churches and cathedrals.

Pretty much what I have done this year. I usually go to my parents for Christmas and play the organ at the parish where I grew up. The problem with this is that you can't really do anything interesting or special because you have to go with the flow of whatever else has been going on musically in the parish. Something I have found a bit frustrating in the past.

Instead of staying in the parish where I currently play the organ, I'm with the 'in-laws-to-be' this year and am singing at Our Lady and the English Martyrs in Cambridge tonight which will be a nice treat.
Whilst I feel a bit bad for letting down the folk where I play every Sunday, I think the break will do me good and I'll return in the New Year feeling much more refreshed.

I hope it all goes well for everyone tonight and all the preparation pays off, unless you are like me and have ventured elsewhere, in which case, enjoy it!

[oopsorganist]

And if you are venturing elsewhere drive with care and have a safe journey.

Meanwhile back in St Grimes in the Ginnel....
the church was pretty packed at 5.45 but not all the performers were there until 6.05. We made them start because there was not going to be enough time for 7 carols and reading and processions.
It was all chaos.
Brilliant. I really enjoyed it. No one sang except for four little girls who got up and sang in to the microphone. One was really knocking it out. Occasionally they sang in tune. One of the merriest was a pop slider in style. People kept leaping up and taking photos on their mobile phones. I am sure there are some CP issues around this? There was a boy in a donkey costume.
The sound system came on and played Hark the Herald Angels sing in the background of SIlent Night.
This was followed by a late Mass in which only the Gloria and Alleluia really classified as being sung and I had to do quite a lot that myself.
A whole lot of people 300 or so? will have gone away convinced that in the catholic church there is a musician who plays carols and what not and just sings the first line for some reason.....?
And there were not hymns books given out. That is because someone noticed that carols were included in the Missalette so decided hymn books were not needed. Unfortunately some of my choices were not on the missalette.
Absolute chaos.
Everyone went to Communion. Once for O Little Town of Bethlehem and twice through Away in a Manger if you see what I mean. Even then me and my guitarist had to do a little instrumental improvisation around it to fill in the gaps.
I loved it. It is important for me be amused by events. I am particularly fond of hearing small tots rumbling around during Mass. It really adds something to me.
Tell you what though, they're a hard bunch are our school parishioners at St Grimes.