All is Calm, All is Bright

Walking or driving past our churches can prompt thoughts about faith, but a more open advertisement for the recent special season came alive on the walls of St Mary’s Cathedral.

After festivities were cut short in 2020, we enjoyed a full three-week display of stunning colourful images commemorating the birth of Christ projected on the walls of the Cathedral adding to the spectacle of Christmas celebrations and providing an outward reminder about the importance of the season.

The well-known and loved Silent Night is not about night or darkness. It is about light. ‘Son of God, love’s pure light. Radiant beams from Thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace’.

With the Lights of Christmas illuminating the Cathedral’s façade, nightly performances from various choirs and the humble ornament of the crib, the Cathedral welcomed and delighted hundreds and thousands, both young and old.

Large crowds gathered for the first evening of the three-week season of lights, despite heavy downpour and inclement weather. Thousands who watch the lights every year countdown the days of Advent, while many others who pass the Cathedral vividly recognize the building as being a place of faithful observance of peace and joy at Christmas and other occasions.

The light display reminds one of the beautiful passage in Isaiah: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light: on those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned.” The Lights of Christmas are a great reminder of the light that comes with the birth of Christ, and the light that we can share, as Christians, with the world.

We would like to acknowledge & thank Paynter Dixon, the event sponsor. Paynter Dixon says it looks forward to providing ongoing support to their charity partner, the End Street Sleeping Collaboration (ESSC).