On Advent Saturday, December 3 at 8:15 pm, we invite you to the Dominican Basilica in Krakow for a Nine Readings Service inspired by “Nine Lessons and Carols” – an English service of meditation on the Nativity of Christ. We invite you to participate, texts will be prepared.
During the service, we will be accompanied by the Krakow organist Filip Presseisen, in whose performance we will hear examples of world organ literature, as well as improvisations on Advent themes.
Advent Nine Readings is a modification of “Nine Lessons and Carols” – an extensive form of liturgical meditation on the Nativity of Christ in the context of the creation and redemption of the world, originating in England. Selected readings from the Holy Scriptures lead the participants – as the words of the introductory prayer proclaim – “from the first days of our disobedience, until the glory of salvation.”
In 1880, E. W. Benson, the Anglican Bishop of Truro, initiated the annual celebration of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, based on the medieval services held in his cathedral on Christmas Eve. In 1918, the liturgy was adapted for use in the chapel of King’s College in Cambridge, from where it became known throughout the English-speaking world thanks to BBC broadcasts (radio from 1928, and television from 1954). The devotion has gained global popularity not only in Anglican Communion churches, but also in Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches.
You can read more about the history and nature of the service in the interesting article on the website Liturgia.pl (in Polish). A booklet with the program, sheet music and texts of the readings is available for download in PDF format, it will also be distributed as a printout on site before the service.
