Advent & Christmas | Great St Mary's

Special services,
events & resources
for Advent & Christmas

Everyone is welcome to attend services at Great St Mary's. Everything is free to attend; most services have a retiring collection to support the work of the church and our Christmas charities.

Book your free tickets
for Carols by Candlelight
(20 December)
from 1 November!

poster about christmas services. The information is provided in an accessible way on the rest of this page

Resources for prayer & reflection during Advent & Christmas:
click on the images to find out more

The cover of 'The Gift of Christmas' booklet.

An advert for the Everyday faith app, with QR codes for downloading it. The page itself also provides these links in clickable format.

The Everyday Faith app offers resources for prayer and reflection all year round. During Advent it provides all the content of the 'Advent A to Z' booklet, delivered to your phone daily. You can also buy the Advent A-Z book if you'd prefer to have it all at once!

A picture of the front cover of 'Advent A to Z', a day by day guide to the season of Advent

You can also pick up a copy of 'The Gift of Christmas' from church.

Walking with Angels: the Archbishop of York's Advent Book 2026

rounding the soul: Week by week with Meister Eckhart by Rebecca Stephens ( a book not just for Advent)

The front cover of 'Women of the Nativity' a book of short stories based on biblical women, by Paula Gooder.

Free podcast of all the
'Women of the Nativity'
stories, and the illustrations

Advent Procession by candlelight:

'Eternity in Christ'
Sunday 29 November
4pm

No booking required.

Compline (Night Prayer) online
with Reflections based on Advent A to Z.

8pm on Wednesdays
2, 9, 16, 23 & 30 December
Email office@gsm.cam.ac.uk to receive an invitation & link

University Carol Service
with Cambridge University Schola Cantorum

Tuesday 8 December
4pm

No booking required.

Messiaen: La Nativité
Devotional performance and exhibition
Organ: Alexander Berry

Artwork: Ally Barrett
Sunday 13 December
at 4pm
(artwork on display all day)
No booking required.

Retiring collection to support music at GSM

Carols by Candlelight
Sunday 20 December
4pm & 6.30pm
Featuring the winning entry in our inaugural Carol Composing Competition

Free tickets will be released in early November for both services; please check back then!

Donate to the collection in aid of our Christmas Charities and Great St Mary's

Christmas Eve Services

Nativity Service
Christmas Eve at 4pm

No booking required.
Everyone welcome - children are welcome to dress as a character from the Nativity story.

Midnight Mass

Christmas Eve at 11.30pm

No booking required.
All are welcome to come and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ at the first Eucharist of Christmas, with beautiful music from the choir.