Christmas is a Coming….

Yesterday evening I attended a concert which I attend almost every year. It is called “An Evening of Advent and Christmas Music” and is held at Saint Mary Magdalen Church in Abbeville. It was as it always is an exceptionally beautiful event. However, because the Church has been fully renovated in the last two years the experience was finer than the average. The performance was provided by two all volunteer groups The Voices of St. Mary Magdalen Choir and the St. Mary Magdalen Children’s Choir. The Voices were (and habitually are) directed by Tommy Guidry Director of Music and the Children’s Choir was directed by Jennifer Melancon. The church was pretty close to filled as selections from Handel’s Messiah, French traditional Christmas songs, American spiritual carols, Christmas Hymns and other pieces filled the church.
Bravo! Certainly it was a worthy effort and a fin e event. Musicians performing with instruments were Yang Yang Li and Lilly Wang on violins, Patrick Prejean on Viola, Justin Breaux on bassoon, Beverly Harlton on flute and John Buroker on organ.

Also in terms of Christmas today I will spend some time in Christmas preparation and my parents will be having our immediate family here for a gathering we normally hold on the seventeenth but which we will hold on the sixteenth. The object is to let the little ones finish decorating the tree, to share song, music and food. But most of all to try build some Christmas togetherness and draw a look back at our shared Advent. That lays a foundation for the rest of the holidays. For me these things are part and parcel of Christmas.

I wish all of you a happy season doing what means the best things most effectively for yourself and your loved ones.