“O Holy Night”
Marie Glover
I grew up in Toms River, New Jersey, and attended Toms River First Methodist Church. When I was a teenager, one Christmas Eve our youth group went on a hayride to sing Christmas carols to several nursing homes. On the way back to the church it started to snow, and we were all so excited. Back at the church, we had hot chocolate and cookies before the Christmas Eve Service.
As is the custom in the Methodist Church, our church served Holy Communion on Christmas Eve. This particular night the ushers lit our candles before Communion. We went to the altar rail with our lit candles. By the time the vocalist finished singing the first verse of “O Holy Night”, I fainted from the fumes of the candle. The candle and I both hit the floor.
Needless to say, I was scared but I was not hurt. No one ever told me if there was a fire or not. Another funny thing is that my grandfather was beside me and he said, “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to faint?” Every time I hear “O Holy Night” sung during Christmas, I remember this experience. And I still love this Christmas carol!