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Il est né le divin enfant.

Last Christmas Eve I made a special trip from Glasgow to Cambridge for the annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols service at King’s College Chapel. I took an overnight bus down, stood in line (literally in the freezing cold) for a few hours in order to gain admission, and took another overnight bus back. But every bit of the hassle was well worth it!

So tonight I was pleasantly surprised to happen upon another Lessons and Carols service, this one at the Eglise du Saint Esprit. The church I’ve been attending — St. Michael’s — conducted the service, but since I was at the soccer game last Sunday I had no idea!

Until the start of the service the extent of me singing Christmas songs in a foreign language basically consisted of belting out the chorus of “Feliz Navidad”. By the end of the service I had sung various verses of both traditional and modern songs in English (the British variety), French, and German. Sure, I had heard “Stille Nacht” before, but I’d always sung it in English. The same with “Il est né le divin enfant” - heard it but never sung it.

And it just so happened that the British Ambassador to France, Sir John Holmes KBE CMG CVO, was in attendance. Not too shabby.