Celebrating carols
Ishara Jayawardane
Colombo International School (CIS) had its celebration of Christmas
Carol recently with the audience treated to a wonderful evening. The
good news was carried forth in a powerful way.
The evening was divided into nine lessons all based on biblical
scriptures. The carols were beautifully sung by senior and junior
choirs. It was a really enjoyable and inspiring performance.
Principal Michael sChappell started the evening with the Lords
Prayer;
Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done,
in earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive them that
trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.]
“I am always incredibly proud of our children. They are not all
Christian but they practised very hard. Rehearsals were there early in
the morning and after school. It is very impressive. They all did well.
Of course the little ones are especially affectionate and parents love
seeing them on the stage.” CIS Principal Michael Chappell said.
The last few days were very important. The senior choir practised for
a month. Chappell thinks the parents had a wonderful time seeing their
children involved in something like this.
“The event has lived up to more than my expectations. We celebrate
every faith in CIS. We do Ramazan and Vesak too. It is always nice when
you get to the right season and see a Christian celebration. This is a
tremendous celebration we do every year.” Chappell said.
Principal Chappell also gave credits to Choir Director Sureka
Amerasinghe for making the evening possible. The little girls dressed as
angels were particularly lovable and adorable.
“With all the activities, I think this is the greatest one. This is
the one activity where the whole school comes together and especially in
the senior school the choir is the main musical component. So it is
wonderful that so many nationalities, so many people from different
countries come together and think together in harmony. There are people
from different faiths in the choir.” Sureka Amerasinghe said. “The
performance was really good. We had so much fun performing and such a
good audience to watch us.” CIS pupil Shenelka Ratwatte said.
“I think this was by far the best one we ever had. The coordination
was really great and it was really fun being a part of it. The
performance product was superb by the Juniors, acting as Mary and
Joseph.” Kiyara Fernando, another CIS pupil, said.
Seven lessons
Seven lessons, out of the nine, were delivered by the pupils
* First lesson: Genesis 3:8-15 by Wiyan Perera (Head Boy, Senior
School) God announces in the garden of Eden that the seed of woman shall
bruise the serpent’s head
* Second lesson: Genesis 22:15-18 by Amaar Esufally (year 11 student)
God promises to faithful Abraham that in his seed shall the nations of
the earth be blessed
* Third Lesson: Isaiah 9: 2-7 by Ramaathi Bandaranayake (year 10
student) Christ’s birth and kingdom are foretold by Isaiah
* Fourth lesson: Micah 5:2-4 by Amritha Khandapur (year 8 student)
The Prophet Micah foretells the glory of little Bethlehem
* Fifth lesson: Luke 1:26-38 by Dinul Hettiarachchi (Head boy, Junior
School) The angel Gabriel salutes the blessed virgin Mary
* Sixth lesson: Luke 2:1-7 by Mehnu Mahapatuna (year 2 student) St
Luke tells of the birth of Jesus
* Seventh lesson: Luke 2: 8-16 by Kezian Nicholas (year 4 student)
The shepherds go to the manger
* Final lesson: John 1:1-14 by Principal Chappell St. John unfolds
the great mystery of the incarnation |
