Last Saturday evening the annual Carol Concert was held in the Chaplain General's church, St Catherine Labouré in Lancashire. Now in its sixth year, funds are raised through the concert for the work of SUROL - the leprosy charity in Sri Lanka supported by the Grand Priory of Great Britain - a support also taken up throughout the Order at the request of the Grand Master.
Once again, we were treated to a wonderful evening of festive music and readings, in the presence of our Grand Prior, The Much Honoured Baron of Fetternear, and supported by members and friends of the Order, parishioners of St Catherine's and guests from the wider community in Leyland. Together we raised the fantastic amount of
£5,710
Thank you to everyone involved.
These funds are sent to Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, the Archbishop of Colombo, who, as Patron of SUROL, is kind enough to act as our conduit to the good work done by the team in Sri Lanka.
This year's amount means the total over the past six years is now
£30,000
God be praised for such generosity from all those involved here in Lancashire.
Mr David Scott-Thomas, organist and musical director of the Octavius Choir conducts.
The Order gives its thanks to him and to all the members of the Choir for the time and talent they give in support of this great cause.
As well as congregational carols for all to join in with the Octavius Choir also sang pieces old and new with some interesting twists:
Tomorrow shall be my Dancing Day (arr. by Sir David Wilcocks)
The Angel Gabriel
Ding Dong Merrily on High (arr. by Charles Wood)
Away in a Manger (arr. by Bob Chilcott)
Silent Night (arr. by Carsten Gerlitz)
Three Kings of Orient ( arr. by John Rutter)
New Year (John Rutter)
Deck the Hall (arr. by Sir David Wilcocks)
The Most wonderful tme of the Year (Edward Pola & George Wyle)
The Christmas Song (Mel Tormé & Robert Wells)
Chev. Anthony Dickinson KLJ reads one of the festive poems.
He is also the inspiration behind the Carol Concert, organising rehearsals, programs and a multitude of other details to drive the event forward each year.
