THE ORIGINS OF THE FESTIVAL OF NINE LESSONS & CAROLS

INTRODUCTION:

Almost every church in the world, today, organizes a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carol, aimed at celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ; this festival is held prior to Christmas. The festival was originally meant as a purely Christian liturgical worship (service); today other institutions, apart from the church, organize similar activities. It can be suggested that some of these institutions organize the activity just as one of their (ordinary) Christmas celebration activities, without considering the fact that it was originally a form of Christian liturgical worship (service); however, churches have still upheld this characteristic of the festival. The story of the fall of humanity, the promise of the Messiah, and the birth of Jesus is told in the nine Bible readings from Genesis, the prophetic books and the Gospels.

• ·         First Lesson from Genesis 3: 8–15; 17–19
  God tells sinful Adam that he has lost the life of Paradise and that his seed will bruise the serpent’s head.
• ·         Second Lesson from Genesis 22: 15–18
  God promises to faithful Abraham that in his seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.
• ·         Third Lesson from Isaiah 9: 2; 6–7
  The prophet foretells the coming of the Saviour.
• ·         Fourth Lesson from Isaiah 11: 1–3a; 4a; 6–9
  The peace that Christ will bring is foreshown.
• ·         Fifth Lesson from the Gospel of Luke 1: 26–35; 38
  The angel Gabriel salutes the Blessed Virgin Mary.
• ·         Sixth Lesson from Luke 2: 1; 3–7
  St Luke tells of the birth of Jesus.
• ·         Seventh Lesson from Luke 2: 8–16
  The shepherds go to the manger.
• ·         Eighth Lesson from the Gospel of Matthew 2: 1–12
  The wise men are led by the star to Jesus.
• ·         Ninth Lesson from the Gospel of John 1: 1–14
  St John unfolds the great mystery of the Incarnation.

 The readings are interspersed with the singing of Christmas carols, hymns, and (originally) choir music.

 ORIGIN OF THE FESTIVAL:

It has been realized that in 1878 the Royal Cornwall Gazette reported that the choir of Truro Cathedral would sing a service of carols at 10:00 p.m. on the Eve of Christmas.

The Choir of the Cathedral will sing a number of carols in the Cathedral on Christmas Eve, the service commencing at 10:00pm. We understand that this is at the wish of many of the leading parishioners and others. A like service has been instituted in other cathedral and large towns, and has been much appreciated. It is the intention of the choir to no longer continue the custom of singing carols at the residences of members of the congregation.

This suggests that the festival initially involved only the singing of Christmas carols. Two years on, Edward White Benson, the first Bishop of Truro, instituted the festival as we know it today. 

The Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall laid the foundation stones of Truro Cathedral on 20th May 1880, despite all the challenges faced. There was a good deal of local opposition to the new building. Some residents lose their homes to make way for the cathedral; Truro's 16th-century parish church was also demolished to make way for the cathedral. On Christmas Eve (24^th December) that year, Bishop Edward White Benson formalized the gathering and singing of carols and included nine Biblical passages from both the Old and New Testaments; this formalized gathering is what was and still known as the ‘Nine Lessons with Carols’. 

This suggests that the festival initially involved only the singing of Christmas carols. Two years on, Edward White Benson, the first Bishop of Truro, instituted the festival as we know it today.

The Bishop interspersed the Bible passages with various carols, hymns and three ‘anthems’ (from Handel's Messiah – For unto us a child is born, There were shepherds abiding in the field and the Hallelujah chorus); this was done to tell the Christmas story. The service began by setting out mankind's need for a Redeemer – the first "lesson" recounting Adam's "original sin" in eating an apple from the tree from which God has commanded him not to eat. The account of Jesus's birth is from St Luke's Gospel. And the final reading focuses on what the birth means for us.

Bishop Benson decided that the first reader should be a humble chorister, each subsequent one progressing through the cathedral hierarchy up to the bishop, a tradition that mostly continues to this day. The original liturgy has since been adapted and used by other churches all over the world. Anglican churches originally held the Nine Lessons and Carols; However today, many Christian denominations have adopted this service, or a variation of this service, as part of their Christmas celebrations.

THE FESTIVAL BEYOND TRURO:

The service has subsequently been in continuous use (with modifications) in Truro since 1880. In December 2013 Truro Cathedral staged a reconstruction of Bishop Benson's original 1880 Nine Lessons with Carols Service which was attended by an audience of over 1,500 people. The Truro Cathedral will celebrate the 138^th service today, 24^th December, 2018. Elsewhere in Brown University, in the Providence Rhode Island, the festival will be 102 years today; they begun in the year 1916.

The comprehensive state school, Magdalen College School, in Barkley Northampton shire, has also had a service of Nine lessons and Carols in their school chapel every year since 1899. They were able to continue during both world wars as the choir was made of school boys, when many university Chapels had to temporarily pause their tradition as their students were fighting in the wars. The school still holds a traditional Nine Lessons and Carols every year, with a Chapel Choir made up of students, staff and retired members of the school community. 

 Later, the King’s College, Cambridge begun the festival of Nine Lessons and Carols on 24^th December, 1918. The festival of the college is that which really put the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols on the map. Eric Milner-White, dean of King's College, took up the service in 1918. The dean was an experienced army chaplain, who believe that more imaginative worship was needed by the Church of England (Anglican Church). He adapted the order of service created by Benson for Truro Cathedral 38 years earlier, he however made some changes in 1919:

1.      Once in Royal David's City became the opening hymn, its first verse sung by a solo treble, a practice that is now ubiquitous.

2.      Milner-White composed and added his celebrated bidding prayer.

3.      He also rethought the lessons, perhaps most notably moving the famous opening of St John's Gospel – "In the beginning was the Word..." – from the seventh to the final reading, where it makes a rousing climax.

 In almost every year some carols have been changed and some new ones introduced by successive music directors. The music at the first festival of the King's College was directed by Arthur Henry Mann, who was the organist 1876 to 1929. Ten years later in 1928, the BBC broadcast the King's service on the radio. However, from 1930, the BBC started broadcasting the service overseas. This year’s (2018) edition marks the 100 years of the service by the King’s College; it was aired live on BBC between the hours of 3:00pm and 4:30pm.

THE GOSPEL TRUTH OF THE FESTIVAL:

The festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is organized as part of activities to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ; however, there is an oft-repeated myth that the purpose of the service was to keep men out of the pubs. This myth can be true because Bishop Edward White Benson’s intention for instituting this service was partly to keep his flock (Christians) from enjoying too much of the wrong kind of festive spirit in the local pubs on 24^th December, ahead of Christmas.

References:

The Guardian

The Lectionary Page

Wikipedia