On Sunday, December 14 at 4:00 pm, the Choir of St. Stephen’s Church on the Green, Middlebury, will offer Darkness to Light: A Preparation for Christmas with Lessons and Carols. The event is free and the public is cordially invited to experience this unique service offered as we approach the winter solstice and the longest night of the year. Throughout history, the Church has kept the season of Advent as a time with a mixture of both solemnity and rejoicing, and has often used candlelight as a symbol of hope in a world that has dark moments.

This presentation of Darkness to Light was developed and used at the great English Cathedral at Salisbury and at St. James Episcopal Cathedral in Chicago. Its goal is to capture that ancient Advent spirit of longing and hope. It begins in darkness and, as the service unfolds, the church is transformed from darkness to light. It is structured around the 6th century “Great O” Antiphons (O Come, O Come, Emmanuel), readings from the Old and New Testaments, and choir anthems and carols ranging from the Renaissance to the 21st century. Music by J.S. Bach, Palestrina, Christopher Aspaas, Rosephanye Powell, Philip Moore, Otto Goldschmidt, Paul Edwards, Sally Beamish, Joanna Forbes L’Estrange, and Paul Manz.