Christmas Carols

We have special songs which we sing during the holiday season. The songs are known as carols and they are about Jesus and the time he was born. They were written for a special purpose, often to accompany performances of christian dramas dating from medieval times. In the Middle Ages, holiday seasonsongs were dances accompanied by singing. It is thought that they were introduced to England from France. Xmas carols were banned between 1647 and 1660 in England by Oliver Cromwell who thought that Cristmas should be a solemn day. People today still go from house to house singing carols and collecting money for charity. The origin of the word Carol comes from the Greek "Choros", which was a circle dance. It was without music, and was also secular in nature. For most of the history of the early church carols, danced, spoken, or sung, were prohibited. But outside the church Nativity Carols became increasingly popular with the common folk. In the 13th Century Saint Francis of Assisi is credited with bringing the peasant tradition into the church.