The celebration of Christmas carols heralds the Christmas season. As is customary, the Seminary community gathered, on the 5^th of December, 2021, to celebrate the 2021 edition of the festival of nine lessons and carols themed “Christ, be our light”.  The event, which is hosted by the St. Gregory Choir of the Seminary, was well attended by invited guests from within and outside Ibadan Archdiocese.

In his welcome address, the Rector of the Seminary, Fr. Anthony Ovayero Ewherido, thanked everyone present for making out time to grace the event. He remarked that the experiences of Covid-19 and the perennial problems in our country have left bitter tastes in our mouths. However, amidst all of these, the Church remains a symbol of hope and radiates light, especially at Christmas, and the celebration of carols reminds us of this fact. He encouraged all to vaccinate to protect themselves and others, in Christian charity, and reminded all that we must all be harbingers of hope, peace, love and charity. The event, which was very colourful, afforded seminarians the opportunity to display their ingenuity and creativity through various presentations and all were thrilled as well with the presentations by other guest choirs.

The highlight of the celebration was the Christmas message which was focused on the theme “Christ, be our light” and was delivered by Rev. Fr Solomon Olumekhor, an alumnus of the Seminary of Saints Peter and Paul, Bodija, Ibadan. While delivering the message, he remarked that “this celebration assures us that the true light which illumines us all and gives hope to the world is coming and any small gesture of goodness, which we carry out, is part of the light and together with other gestures of goodness, the darkness of the darkest night will be illuminated.”

After the message, the Archbishop of Ibadan Archdiocese and the chairman of the Seminary Commission, Most Rev. Gabriel ’Leke Abegunrin gave a remark. He reiterated the message of the speaker and commended the good work of the formators and students in keeping the Seminary in good shape. He also commended the liturgy of the seminary and encouraged the seminarians to replicate these in their various dioceses. The choirmaster, Mr Onyema Anthony expressed sentiments of gratitude to everyone present. The benediction was given by the Archbishop and the celebration came to an end. Everyone departed with the awareness that Christ, the light, is coming into the world to dispel the darkness in their hearts.