[Magdalen] Sing We Now of Christmas.

[Scott Knitter]

In addition to "Beautiful Savior," their "Come, thou fount of every
blessing" brings tears to my eyes.

Please pray for my dear husband, who is again fighting with pneumonia. On
top of this he takes on undeserved shame for "ruining Christmas" and the
like, as we won't be attending his family's Christmas gathering, which is
wonderful but also kept as a rock-solid tradition; his father in particular
is a huge advocate of doing things the same way every year (not just
Christmas, but summer visits to a B&B, staying in the same room on the same
dates, etc.). I trust he will not receive any flack nor shame of any sort
about this; if he does, something is seriously out of whack. I hope and
pray that is not the case. He'll be putting all his energy into our
attending 10 a.m. Mass in our church, and then we will rest at home. I'll
keep him supplied with whatever he needs.

I reminded him that our evening with a friend, enjoying Chinese food and
George C. Scott's Scrooge, has already been a fine part of what will be a
fine Christmas together.

On Mon, Dec 24, 2018 at 10:33 PM cantor03--- via Magdalen <
magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:

>
> I took the time this evening, since I'm not going to a Midnight Mass/Vigil
> Liturgyto watch the L&C services from two small private PA colleges , both
> about 60miles to my west.  I must say I was surprised at the size and
> expertise of thechoirs and school orchestras, and the sophisticated program
> of seasonalchoral and instrumental music.  Having degrees from two large
> (both well over40,000 students) state universities, I tend to overlook
> these smaller schools.That's obviously a mistake on my part.  The schools
> are Bucknell andSusquehanna Universities.
> The third and final choral concert (there were no scriptural  lessons) was
> from the famous Saint Olaf College at Northfield, MN with which I am
> quitefamiliar.  The four Saint Olaf choirs participating are getting so
> large, thatwith the full school symphony orchestra the entire assemblage
> must be onthe order of 700 participants.  The basketball arena where these
> concertsare held is getting too small for them even though they do several
> identical
> concerts each Christmas.  This was all well done, and ended with
> theirtrademark "Beautiful Savior" arranged by F. Melius Christiansen.  The
> audience waits for this finale, and I can guarantee there isn't a dry eye
> inthe crowd including me.  This has become sort of the "national" anthem of
> theUpper Midwest.
> This all puts me really "in the mood."
> Tomorrow in the morning it's the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas.
>
>
> David S.
>


-- 
Scott R. Knitter
Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA