Pacific Hope Church to hold neighborhood

Pacific Hope Church will sing Christmas carols in their neighborhood. (Photo taken from the official website of iStock)

Pacific Hope Church will conduct a Christmas caroling in its neighborhood on Sunday, Dec. 18, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

The church’s website encouraged its members to join and proclaim the gift of Jesus, their savior, in Christmas songs. They announced they would meet at the church and go out together in their community.

Pacific Hope Church will welcome friends and families to sing with them.

Christmas Caroling

Sam Abramson, from the HowStuffWorks website, noted that the concept of Christmas caroling is mostly about bands of church attendees wearing shawls and top hats going door-to-door. He revealed that this idea is also known as wassailing, an Old Norse term.

According to the website, this term means spreading the Christmas spirit through hymns. Abramson emphasized that whether the song is Deck the Halls, Joy to the World, or Silent Night, these songs could give the soundtrack to the holidays.

In addition, they mentioned that the word “carol” does not mean a song but a dance. As further stated, “Carole” means “kind of dance” in Old French, while in Latin, “choraula” means dance to the flute.

More interestingly, the website highlighted that “choraules” in Greek means a flute player with choral dance. They said some carols focused on religion, and some were originally secular.

The website reveals that some hymns are related to custom dances with up-tempo melodies with alternating choruses and verses.

It also explained that caroling started in the pre-Christian celebration of the Yule Festival. In this celebration, Northern Europeans would gather to sing and dance to honor the Winter Solstice, as added on the website.

In addition, they said that carols developed into a Christian custom and became hymns having few relations to any kind of dance.

Popular Christmas Caroling

In another section, HowStuffWorks revealed that people had made hundreds of Christmas carols over several centuries. But, they emphasized that only a few songs became legendary.

One of the legendary songs is Silent Night, as noted on the website. They explained that it is the most well-known Christmas carol of all. They added that this song has different legends behind its origin.

Moreover, they mentioned that the most famous legend includes Austrian priest Joseph Mohr. The website revealed that Mohr composed the song on Christmas Eve with his friend Franz Gruber even though their church organ was broken.

In addition, the website highlighted that the song was translated as “Stille Nacht” in German. They added that they wrote it in time for the church’s midnight service in the Bavarian town of Oberndorf.

They stressed that the details of the song's making remain unclear, but some believe parts need to be genuine. They added that Mohr and Gruber initially got the credit for adapting the music, a poem Mohr wrote.

12 Days of Christmas

Meanwhile, the same website noted that The 12 Days of Christmas is another legendary Christmas carol. They explained that it started in the 18th century in England as a “memory-and-forfeit game.”

In addition, they said that British children sing this Christmas carol. They revealed that one theory believes that the song was a catechism for Catholics to learn “the tenets of their faith.”