Histories tell us that Christmas carols actually had no religious content in the late 1800s. But then the enterprising Right Rev. Edward White Benson began a service of “Nine Lessons and Carols” to get the party-hearty crowd out of Cornish pubs and into church.
The tradition at St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Guadalajara is a lot younger than that—only about 35 years—but the event is decidedly religious, except for refreshments afterward, known to have alcoholic content.
The sing-along portions of “Lessons and Carols” are in the latter part of the service, which fires up at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, December 10. But St. Mark’s music director and Jalisco State Choir singer Debra Matthew recommends arriving punctually to hear her favorite—the haunting “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” arranged by John Rutter, with Gregorian chant tones and based on “Corde Natus” by Roman poet Aurelius Prudentius.
“Lessons and Carols is not the same every year,” Matthew said. “About 15 years ago, Father Manuel Sonora made it bilingual. But we stick to the nine readings suggested by Anglicans and the hymns that go with each one. That’s why the first three or four are Advent hymns. We don’t get into the Christmas story until Mary comes into the picture. And at that point Guadalupe Blanco will sing Schubert’s ‘Ave Maria,’ a definite crowd pleaser.”
“Lessons & Carols,” Sunday, December 10, 5:30 p.m., St. Mark’s Anglican Church, Chichimecas 836 at Aztecas, near Plaza Mexico and the new U.S. Consulate under construction.