An Advent Procession
A traditional service of hope and expectation
Sunday, November 29, 2026, 5:00 pm
The scripture, prayers, hymns, and choral music shape a contemplative journey from darkness toward expectation and hope. Unlike a Christmas service, the Advent Procession dwells deliberately in waiting. Its readings and music move through prophecy, longing, judgment, and promise before turning toward the coming of Christ. The procession itself gives the service a clear dramatic arc: voices and light gradually inhabit the chapel, allowing architecture, movement, and sound to carry meaning alongside the spoken texts. Congregational hymns place everyone within that journey, while the Schola's choral offerings provide moments of greater intimacy and reflection. Mary's Chapel is especially suited to this form of worship. Its smaller scale brings listeners close to the singers, and its acoustic allows unaccompanied lines to bloom without losing clarity. The result is neither a concert with readings nor an early Christmas celebration, but a coherent Advent liturgy shaped by restraint, expectation, and hope. Those familiar with Lessons and Carols will recognize the tradition, while first-time visitors will find the service easy to enter without prior knowledge. The service is open to the public and free of charge, offering a contemplative beginning to Advent for worshippers, families, students, and anyone seeking an hour of beauty and quiet before the pace of December quickens. In a service such as this, the choir's task is not simply to present individual anthems beautifully, but to sustain the arc of the whole liturgy. Readings, hymns, processions, organ music, unaccompanied singing, and silence are placed in deliberate relation so that each element prepares the next. The movement through the chapel makes those relationships visible, while the changing light marks the gradual turn from expectation toward promise. For listeners accustomed to concert presentation, the service offers a different way of hearing sacred music. Applause does not divide the sequence, and the choir's singing belongs to a larger act shared with readers, clergy, congregation, and space.
About the Artist
The Schola Cantorum of St. James by-the-Sea is a small professional vocal ensemble dedicated to the performance of sacred choral music within its liturgical setting. Drawing upon the breadth of the Western choral tradition, the Schola’s repertoire includes Gregorian chant, Renaissance polyphony, Anglican music, and works by contemporary composers.
The ensemble’s chamber scale allows for exceptional clarity, flexibility, and intimacy, qualities particularly suited to unaccompanied repertoire and the resonant acoustic of St. James by-the-Sea. The Schola sings for Choral Evensong, Compline by Candlelight, and other services requiring the precision and expressive range of a professional chamber choir. It also leads an annual Advent Procession of Lessons and Carols in St. Mary’s Chapel at The Bishop’s School.
Directed by Alex Benestelli, the Schola approaches sacred music not simply as concert repertoire, but as a living part of worship. Through attentive ensemble singing, clear communication of text, and thoughtful programming, it creates space for reflection, prayer, and renewed encounters with centuries of choral tradition.