WELCOME TO ST MARY'S AND ALL SOULS
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Take a look at the churches in the Benefice from the air |
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St Mary's and All Souls Services We will post any revisions to services here and on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StMarysAndAllSouls |
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St Mary's and All Souls latest Newsletter |
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PCC Papers You can now download minutes and other PCC documents from the PCC page |
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Food Bank latest needs: https://bromleyborough.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-food/ *PLEASE DON'T SEND US FROZEN OR CHILLED ITEMS AS WE DON'T HAVE THE CORRECT STORAGE FOR IT AND IT SPOILS BEFORE WE CAN DISTRIBUTE IT* WE'VE GOT PLENTY OF PASTA, CEREAL & BISCUITS
Thank you!
Judith Simmonds will be taking the Parish contributions towards the end of the month so please drop your donations into our box in the porch before then. |
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The Church Of England Daily Prayer |
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Gillian Garman writes:
By the time you read this article the Christmas Season will be well underway, and Orpington (Brass) Band will have started our busiest time of the year.
Having played for the Chelsfield Primary School Victorian Christmas Fair at the end of November and then playing Christmas Carols and Christmas Music to shoppers in Orpington High street on each Saturday morning in December, shoppers in The Glades on 8th December those shopping in Tesco Orpington on the 19th. Plus, other events which are further afield!
The sound of Christmas Carols being played by a brass band cannot be matched; it is a well-loved tradition.
Have you ever thought about the Carols that we play or sing at Christmas, their history, their meaning and why we sing them?
A carol is a joyful religious song created and sung (or played!) by ordinary people. The root meaning of the word “carol” is “to dance in a ring” and probably came from the old French “caroller”, through the Latin “choraula” and, originally, the Greek “choros”, which was a circling dance.
Traditional carols are essentially joyful. Even when the subject is solemn, the music is lively, and the words trip easily off the tongue.
Carols first became popular in the 15th century as restrictions on music and drama decreased earlier. Some carols had pagan roots but were adapted to the Christian faith, along with other customs.
Their subjects are down to earth and include references to plants and animals, food, and drink. “The holly and the ivy” and “Here we come a Wassailing” are popular examples in which a Christian dimension has been added to these subjects. The Church sang Gregorian chant in Latin while the people sang and danced to carols in the street, the home, and the inn.
Most carols that have survived relate to Advent and Christmas, but there are also carols to be sung at Easter, on saints' days and at different seasons of the year.
In the 17th century, when the Puritans disapproved of celebrating religious feasts, including Christmas, and dancing was banned, carol singing declined and was almost forgotten. In 1871, however, “Christmas Carols New and Old” by Revd. H R Bramley and Dr. John Stainer was published and brought 13 traditional carols and some original compositions into wide and popular use.
The effect of this book was enormous. Some of the arrangements were weak and rather pious, but the restoration of the traditional carol is largely owed to them.
It was gradually recognized that, with the advent of universal education and wider travel, the great wealth of folk music, including carols, was in danger of being lost. Composers including Ralph Vaughan Williams collected and published may traditional words and melodies in the “English Hymnal” (1906) and the “Oxford Book of Carols” (1928).
The last 70 years has shown a continuous increase in carol services, along with the Festivals of Nine lessons and Carols, first devised in Truro Cathedral and later popularised by annual broadcasts from King’s College, Cambridge. The service records of Gloucester Cathedral record no carol services before 1930, but by 1990 a carol service was being held there almost every evening during the fortnight before Christmas. Today carol services are held in almost every church and school as well as numerous concert halls with new arrangements of carols being published every year.
Carols were always modern in that they expressed ideas and faith of ordinary people in their own time. Their charm lies in that they are being true to the culture of their own age.
St Mary's Church is hosting the London Borough of Bromley's Civic Carol Service this year on Sunday 14th December as Revd. Susan is Chaplain to Mayor Jonathan Andrews this year. This will be one of many opportunities to sing some wonderful traditional carols this Christmas season.
And while we sing (or play!) the familiar words of the carols, of the birth of Jesus our Saviour, may we know the joy of the angels, the eagerness of the shepherds, the perseverance of the wise men, the obedience of Joseph and Mary, and the peace of the Christ child, this Christmas and always.
Amen.
(Refs: “Bethlehem Carols Unpacked”)
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