The Most Chilling Christmas Carol Ever Written? | The story of "The Coventry Carol"
November 30, 2025
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1:01:51Now PlayingThe Most Chilling Christmas Carol Ever Written? | The story of "The Coventry Carol"
YouTube Description
as posted by the channelThis episode on "The Coventry Carol" is part of a new season of the podcast, "Hark! The Stories Behind Our Favorite Christmas Carols," from America Magazine, the Jesuit Review (AmericaMagazine.org).
Listen to more episodes including, "O Holy Night," "The Little Drummer Boy," and "Silent Night" on:
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America Magazine, the Jesuit Review
Episode description:
Most Christmas carols celebrate the birth of Jesus. But not “The Coventry Carol." This song centers on a biblical horror: the “massacre of the innocents,” King Herod’s order to kill all male babies two years old and under in Bethlehem. It’s a lullaby sung by mothers to children who may not survive the night. In this podcast episode, host Maggi Van Dorn travels to Coventry, England, to trace how this centuries-old lament survived the Reformation, a devastating library fire and the 1940 bombing of Coventry Cathedral during the Second World War— and how it has served the city’s witness to grief and reconciliation.
Featuring:
Rev. Richard Cooke, an Anglican priest in the Diocese of Coventry, who unpacks the carol’s scriptural and early historical roots
Malvern Carvell, a local historian with deep family ties to Coventry, who walks her through the cathedral ruins and the city’s medieval past
Rev. Kate Massey, the cathedral's minister for arts and reconciliation, who reflects on the carol’s spiritual power and Coventry's enduring commitment to reconciliation
Rachel Mahon, the cathedral’s director of music—and previously the first female organist in the 1,400-year history of St Paul’s Cathedral in London—walks Maggi through the carol’s uneven rhythms and haunting modal lines.
Music featured in this episode of “Hark!” from: The King’s Singers and Signum Records; James Bilodeau; Brad Prevedoros; Matthew Pierce; Avaendil; Brian Thiessen; Cynthia Boener; Salt of the Sound; the Coventry Cathedral Girls’ Choir; the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge. Theme music by Frank Tuson.
America Magazine is offering short, inspiring and Bible reflections for FREE every day during Advent and Christmas for "Hark!" listeners. Sign up at
Love a good holiday brainteaser? America Magazine's weekly Christmas carol trivia is exclusively for subscribers. Take the first quiz
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