The elders are in charge of organizing and preparing the dinner party, some are assigned to hang and show the Christmas decorations and most of the children with some adults are responsible for Christmas carols.

Caroling during Christmas has always been and will always be part of the Holiday season. Christmas caroling is not just amusing and entertaining to do but it primarily teaches children the importance and the true meaning of Christmas in a fun and enjoyable way. It doesn’t matter if you’re part of the carolers or just mere spectators, what’s vital and genuine is the happiness you’ll feel whenever you hear these wonderful and familiar songs.

If you’re planning to form a group of carolers, you must first and foremost, make sure that everyone knows the carols that you’re going to sing. Meeting and practicing before your target date to carol is a must as well. This way, everything will be in order and the performance that you are your group’s going to render is not just admirable but superb as well.

If you need help with the lyrics or music,Amazon has some wonderful Christmas song books the you might want to check. The Reader’s Digest Merry Christmas Songbook w/ CD looks like a good place to find Christmas songs both old and new.

You and your group can sing carols at your neighbor houses or even during the Christmas dinner that your family is preparing during the eve of Christmas.

This year’s Christmas Eve service will be broadcast from Cambridge, England at 3PM GMT but listeners here in Minnesota will have to tune in at 9AM to hear the live broadcast on MPR’s classical stations. It is a wonderful way to begin Christmas Eve. The traditional music and scripture readings focus on the real meaning of Christmas and bring a bit of quiet meditation into a our somewhat frazzled lives. The program will be rebroadcast on MPR at 5PM Christmas Day. The BBC World Service and public radio stations around the world will broadcast the service a number of times, so check your local or online schedules.

A little bit about the service will help you understand why it is so popular and beloved by people around the world.

A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is an Anglican service that commemorates and celebrates the birth of Jesus. The liturgy is aptly titled because throughout the service there will be nine readings from the Bible mixed with hymns and carols. Although there are similar services elsewhere, the King’s College one is the best known primarily because the world-class choir and the fact that it is broadcast by the BBC.

In 1918 Dean of the College, Eric Milner-White, brought the innovative worship service of readings and song to Cambridge. In 1928 the BBC began to broadcast it via shortwave to the rest of the world. The service itself is intended for the city and university community of Cambridge.

Each year since 1983 a special carol has been commissioned for the service.

“This year the commission has gone to the British composer Dominic Muldowney. Muldowney has written extensively for film and television, including scores for 1984 (1984), Sharpe’s Eagle (1993) and King Lear (1997). He has also written concert pieces, including a piano concerto and a saxophone concerto, and he has worked with pop musicians such as Sting and David Bowie. For this year’s carol Muldowney has used an early text by Berthold Brecht about the Virgin Mary.”

Source: A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

If you are unable to listen to the service on radio, you can get a recording of an earlier service from your local library or music shop. Once you hear the service you may want to make it a part of future Christmas celebrations.

From Amazon: A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

If you want to be in a Christmas mode in an instant, all you need to do is to turn on your music player and listen to your favorite Christmas songs. You’ll find yourself in better spirits just by listening to the powerful voices of great artists singing funny or sentimental Christmas songs. Aside from the usual Christmas carols and religious holiday hymns, there are a lot Christmas songs that will surely touch your heart and will make you feel the true essence of the holiday season.

Every year, various artists and singers compile and release singles and albums with original and remake Christmas songs. Take Elvis Presley for instance. The King of Rock and Roll may have passed away a few decades ago but his Christmas songs are still being played in the air. Just this year, Sony Music Incorporated, release an album entitled “Elvis Presley Christmas Duets.” The album consists of different well known and crowd favorite Christmas songs that various artists and the voice of the King recorded using special high-tech musical instruments. This album also gives fans the chance to sing with Elvis Presley.

Sony put a great short video about making this album on YouTube. The following video gives a glimpse behind the scenes as the album was made.

This kind of Christmas album make the season more festive and enjoyable even during the current economic crisis.