A Brief History of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols held in the Chapel of the Transfiguration.
Most people associated with S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia know that the School was founded by James Chapman, 1st Anglican Bishop of Colombo in 1851 on the model of Eton College Windsor, where he himself had been a student and later a Fellow. However, it may not be common knowledge that links also exist between S. Thomas’ and King’s College, Cambridge where Bishop Chapman was a King’s Scholar. It was from King’s, much later on, that Roy Henry Bowyer-Yin came to us as our Chaplain bringing with him this Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.
After his training for the priesthood at Cuddesdon, Roy Bowyer-Yin returned to King’s to serve as Assistant Chaplain. From there he went on to be Chaplain of Hurstpierspoint School and then came to S. Thomas’ on the invitation of Bishop Cecil D. Horsley, and took up duties on Boxing Day 1946. Father Yin was keen to develop the choral tradition in the Chapel of the Transfiguration that had been so ably maintained by Father T. W. Gilbert, R. B. W. Jayasekera, Fr A. J. Foster and Budd Jansze among others. By far Father Yin’s most enduring legacy at STC has been the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols that he introduced and was held for the first time on 7th December 1947, based entirely on the King’s College. The Bidding Prayer used then and today is that which was composed by Dean Eric Milner-White the originator of the King’s service in 1918, a prayer rich in theology and English prose. Father Yin in his Chapel Notes published in the College Magazine for that term writes, “It is good to record that there was a real atmosphere of devotion and at no time was there any feeling that the service was degenerating into a concert or recital, which is the ever-present danger of such a service.”
In 1962, the year of Father Yin’s departure from STC, one of his pupils Russel Bartholomeusz, who was destined to carry on his master’s work, joined the tutorial staff. Mr. Bartholomeusz took over as organist in that year and later became the Choirmaster as well. For over forty years he proved to be a most worthy successor to his mentor. Between Father Yin leaving and Mr. Bartholomeusz taking over, the training of the choir was under the direction of an equally gifted choral musician Fr Lucian G. B. Fernando. Warden Neville de Alwis recognised the yeoman service of Mr Bartholomeusz by appointing him Precentor of the Chapel in 1997.
In 2004, on Mr. Bartholomeusz’s retirement, one of his pupils and past choir leaders, Vinodh Senadeera took up the mantle of the Choirmaster cum Organist (appointed as the Precentor of the Chapel in 2019) continuing the tradition of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols for many years until his most untimely demise in January 2019.
In its 76th year this year, the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols continues to serve the Mission of God as a means of reaching out with the timeless message of hope that the Incarnation offers in the context of the best tradition of Anglican liturgical worship. May it continue to serve this function for many years to come.