REACHING OUT AT CHRISTMAS

Yesterday afternoon's Multilingual Carol Service in Modica Bassa saw a huge turnout and for me, signified what Christmas should be about:  reaching out to others in a spirit of peace and tolerance.

Here is the programme, cleverly designed by my friend Linda:

And here is the scene set ready for the readings and carols to begin. Some of you may recognise Gino's collage here:

We began by singing Venite Fedeli [Oh Come, All Ye Faithful] together in Italian, the language which unites us all and then there was Italy's favourite carol [and mine], Tu scendi dalle stelle.  Carols and readings followed in French, Malagasy, Bosnian, Greek, German, Spanish, Sicilian dialect, Danish, Dutch and English.  Not all the readings were religious and I read from Dylan Thomas's A Child's Christmas in Wales.  Finally we all sang the first verse of Astro del Ciel [Silent Night] in Italian, French, German, Spanish and English.

A French ensemble

Poem being read in Malagasy

A German carol is sung

A Spanish carol sung with much jolly hand-clapping

Candlelight for a Danish carol

The British contingent

Everyone had brought along a dish from their country to share so there was a fine feast afterwards. We were happy to welcome some new friends from Somalia and Eritrea and we hope they will join us often for social events.