I'd heard of this custom, but again, didn't know much about it.
Recently I got to attend the whole show, with dozens of cast, a large choir and orchestra, in a packed and beautiful chapel.
The first half acts out a medieval feast, with good King Wenceslas as host, while the choir sings Christmas carols.
Here's the cool part: the name comes from the centerpiece of the feast, and the core meaning of Christmas. In England, the main hostile creature is not a serpent or a lion, but a boar in the forest. Bringing in his head on a platter signifies the defeat of evil, the serpent's head crushed. Time to feast!
"The mightiest Hunter of them all
We honor in this festal hall...
He hunted down through earth and hell
The swart boar death until it fell.
This mighty deed for us was done.
Therefore we sing in unison"
The second half acts out the nativity story, and at the end the revelers from the first half all return and bow down to baby Jesus. The climax comes on the last verse of Let All Mortal Flesh, as good King Wenceslas approaches and bows to the Christ Child. Concluding with O Come All Ye Faithful invites the audience to take part in worshiping our God.
I noticed an important subtle action at the end. All the cast who were looking at baby Jesus and singing praise to Him, at one point looked up beyond Him, giving thanks to God the Father for giving this gift. This is a much needed and bracing cure for the sentimentalism that can infect our holidays, where we only look at the nativity scene for how nice it looks. No, this was God's gift to us, and we should look from the gift (the scene and baby Jesus) to the Giver.
No comments:
Post a Comment