United States Province colleges and universities have been celebrating the Advent and Christmas seasons with a variety of events on campus.
Rev. James Lies, C.S.C., led Advent Lessons and Carols Tuesday (Dec. 4, 2012) at Stonehill College, Easton, Mass. Fr. Lies is Vice President for
Mission and Engagement at Stonehill. The College heralded in the holy seasons with the Stonehill College Brass Ensemble and the Chapel Choir in the Chapel of Mary. After mass, students celebrated with the Festival of Light & Hope in the main quad with a tree lighting and blessing of the Christmas Tree.
Stonehill also is having a variety of Christmas concerts by choral, orchestra and band groups from the College throughout the month.
At King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., the community participated in a tree-lighting ceremony Nov. 30 at Monarch Court. Rev. John Ryan, C.S.C., President of King’s, lit the tree, while the choral group Cantores Christi Regis helped the community sign carols.
The University of Notre Dame(Ind.) Glee Club is having a series of Christmas concerts on Saturday (Dec. 8, 2012). The concerts are at 2, 6 and 8:30 p.m. at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. The cost for tickets ranges from $3 to $10 and are available online.
The Notre Dame Physics Department is sponsoring a presentation “What and When Was the Christmas Star?” by Professor Grant Mathews. The presentation, which will be followed by a video “A Season of Lights,”
will be at 7 p.m. Friday (Dec. 7, 2012), 3 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 8, 20120) and 3 p.m. Sunday, (Dec. 9, 2012) at the Digital Visualization Theater in the Jordan Hall of Science. Mathews has applied tools of modern astrophysics to search for evidence of the Star of the East at the birth of Jesus, written about in the Gospel of Matthew. He will also discuss the possible identity of the Wise Men.
The University of Portland(Ore.) is having an Advent concert at 8 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 8, 2012) at St. Mary’s
Cathedral featuring the University Singers, Chamber Orchestra and Women’s Chorale. Each Advent since 1973, the Singers have presented campus concerts of seasonal sacred music that have become a holiday tradition. In addition, the Singers’ 1997 recording “Christmas at the University of Portland” has sold more than 3,000 copies and is heard annually in nationwide broadcasts in the United States and Ireland.
