The concept of this event finds its origins in the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols made famous by the Christmas Eve service at Kings College, Cambridge. The service was conceived by F. W. Benson, the Anglican Bishop of Truro Cathedral who later became the Archbishop of Canterbury. The service was used for the first time on Christmas Eve in 1880 and as its popularity grew, it was formally adapted at Kings College in 1918 by Eric Milner-White, the Dean of Kings College. Since 1918, the service has been aired live by the BBC on Christmas Eve throughout the world. In 1934, sixteen years after the adaptation of the Nine Lessons and Carols, Eric Milner-White composed another order of service, a Procession with Carols on Advent Sunday. In the same format as the
original Nine Lessons and Carols, the purpose of this service was to “not celebrate Christmas, but to expect it.” Our Lessons and Carols this evening combine scripture and music to tell the story of the expectation, birth, and revelation of Christ to the nations. May your hearts and minds be open to the coming of the Savior through these Lessons and Carols.
-adapted from St. Veronica Catholic Church, Chantilly, VA
More information on Lessons and Carols:
https://www.trinitasclassical.org/lessons-and-carols-a-brief-history-of-the-service/