It’s Thanksgiving week, which means that LCH choir rehearsal is moved to Tuesday, because even if God made Thursdays for choir practice, Thanksgiving always takes precedence! Dress rehearsal for Advent Procession is always the Saturday before, which means we have two rehearsals this week.

On the back of the “O” Antiphon bulletin, it says that “the origin of the ‘O’ Antiphons is not known. They have been found in manuscripts from the ninth century and are frequently attributed to St. Gregory the Great. . . . The Antiphons were chanted before and after the Magnificat at Vespers on the days immediately preceding Christmas. Each one presents a name given to Christ in the Old Testament (O Wisdom, O Adonai, O Root of Jesse, O Key of David, O Rising Dawn, O King of Nations and O Emmanuel). The antiphon texts are the basis for the verses of the beloved Advent hymn O come, o come Emmanuel.

People around LCH remember the “O” Antiphon service as the one which needs seventeen acolytes and nine lectors! Thanks to Jeanne Castello and Josie Bidgood for organizing the acolytes and bannerbearers this year. Carols and anthems by Peter R. Hallock, Hildegard of Bingen, Stanley Vann, Johannes Brahms, Judith Weir, George Guest, Jacob Handl, William Mathias, John Ferguson and Carl Crosier will be performed.

It will be Carl Crosier’s 35th and final Advent Procession.