Cindy Rollins - Hallelujah: a Journey Through Advent with Handel’s Messiah

What Is Advent?

by Cindy Rollins

Why Handels Messiah?

by Cindy Rollins

In that far-off time before computers or the internet, the Rollins family loved Christmas music. We loved it more than most other families I knew. We had a huge collection of Christmas tapes which we eventually converted to Christmas CDs. We had LPs from my childhood, like Christmas with Gisele including the classic Too Fat for the Chimney and a series of contemporary Christian Christmas offerings, some of which have actually stood the test of time. Eventually, we even re-purchased our favorites on iTunes; our family iTunes Holiday playlist is over 24 hours long.

At the center of all that wonderful music is Handels Messiah . There was hardly time to listen to it. I didnt want it to get lost in the shuffle of great Christmas music. One day while reading through the sheet music, I realized that the libretto aligned closely with many of the Advent devotionals I used during the month of December. Most of my Advent resources concentrated on Old Testament prophecies anticipating Christ, which is exactly what Messiah does. Only Messiah goes even further; it continues through the birth of Christ Hallelujah, the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth to the final, more sobering triumph of Worthy is the Lamb.

After noticing this I decided to structure our December Morning Time around Handels Messiah. I divided up the libretto and tracks into days. For our Advent devotions we read the scriptures referenced in the music, discussed the tracks we would listen to, and then closed our eyes and listened. It was truly perfection: an Advent family devotion that was not too long, and that we could easily catch up on when we missed days. No more trying to read pages and pages of missed readings.

Messiah breaks down easily into daily sections. Most sections include, first, a recitation, followed by an air or solo, followed by a chorus. The lengths vary, from Day 1 which is 11 minutes to Day 17 which is only a 1 minute tenor aria.

Our family has done this year after year so that Messiah is a part of our hearts and minds. In addition to this simple method, I sometimes have the whole Messiah playing in the background just as a remembrance.

How to Use This Guide

by Cindy Rollins

I have tried to keep this book very simple.

Let me tell you a secret. You can use this book any old way you please.

You can follow all my suggestions and ideas or you can simply follow the outline of Messiah each day. I highly recommend that you do not complicate it too much. Did you have a great St. Nicholas Day Feast last year but feel overwhelmed and tired this year? Guess what: It is okay to skip it or to celebrate it with take-out Chinese. Some years you might make the best molded cookies and some years the cookies crumble to pieces. I have found that crumbled cookies still taste good. Advent is a time of anticipation and joy. What I love most about using Messiah as an outline for the season is its simplicity.

Remember, media applications like Spotify and YouTube are your friends. The entire Messiah is available on both, as well as on CD, DVD, and other formats (new and old). As you will see in this guide, tracks for daily listening are named according to the scripture passages(s) they include.

I have chosen to use the libretto from the first London performance of Messiah in 1743. This was not the first performance of Messiah ; that happened in Dublin in 1742. My own favorite recording is the performance with Sir Neville Marriner conducting the Academy and Chorus of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. On my recent trip to London, one of the surprises was getting to hear a concert at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. I must say it was thrilling, except the modern updates to the church were a bit disturbing. So terribly, terribly modern. I had always imagined a place more, well, medieval, and sitting in a field, perhaps. Nevertheless, it was still quite emotional for me to be in a place so central to my own mothering memories through that much-loved recording of Messiah .