Why do we have carols at christmas

As carols evolved into a Christian tradition, they became hymns, having little relation to any type of dance. In the next section, we'll look at the history of caroling and why it's sometimes called "wassailing. Sign up for our Newsletter!

Mobile Newsletter banner close. Mobile Newsletter chat close. Just as the songs used to bring people together many hundreds of years ago, singing carols at Christmas is still a popular activity to bring families and friends together over Christmas time. What is Remembrance Day? How much is a lightsaber worth? Gerrard announced as new Villa manager - is it a good move? Home Menu. Why do we sing Christmas carols?

Getty Images. Many of us enjoy singing Christmas carols during the festive period. Find out more about where they came from below. Earlier in December, a choir sang Christmas carols during the traditional lighting of the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square in London. This illustration shows the Romans having a great time celebrating the Saturnalia. Taking up old melodies and rhythms, Christians replaced their previous pagan lyrics for ones celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ and the Nativity story.

Dundas says that as early as the 13 th century, priests—including Saint Francis of Assisi, who is credited with starting the tradition of live Nativity scenes—helped infuse hymns and tunes into Christmas worship, adding songs as part of Nativity plays.

These hymns were essential in spreading the Christmas message and helping people connect with their faith. This aspect of bringing a spiritual message to the people — and making songs accessible to everyone — is the essence of carols, says Janet McDaniel, Honors College fellow and adjunct professor in the Department of Religious Studies, which is part of the Steven J. It was a way to express your faith, devotion and belief system incorporating fun.

It was just fun. People from diverse cultures and religious groups across the world have used rhythm, movement and sound to share their deepest emotions and beliefs. The earliest carol, like this, was written in Sadly only a very small fragment of it still exists. The carol was about Mary and Jesus meeting different people in Bethlehem.

Most Carols from this time and the Elizabethan period are untrue stories, very loosely based on the Christmas story, about the holy family and were seen as entertaining rather than religious songs.

They were usually sung in homes rather than in churches! Traveling singers or Minstrels started singing these carols and the words were changed for the local people wherever they were traveling. One carols that changed like this is 'I Saw Three Ships'. When the Puritans came to power in England in s, the celebration of Christmas and singing carols was stopped. However, the carols survived as people still sang them in secret.