smells like: cedar, sandalwood, orange, resin, moss, frankincense, myrrh, patchouli

Come in from the cold. There’s room in the pew.

At King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, the last of the daylight fades through the stained glass as Evensong begins. It’s the Anglican service of evening prayer, when the choir sings the psalms and the congregation pauses to hear Scripture and pray. You can slip in from the magical streets of academia, take a seat beneath the soaring stone vault, and be present.

O Holy Night opens with a bright note of orange before settling into the warmth of cedarwood and sandalwood, rustic and smooth like the old wooden pew beneath you. Frankincense, myrrh, and resin give the candle an incense-kissed richness, with moss and patchouli underneath, earthy and cool as the chapel stone.

Light it on an Advent evening when you come home with a limping soul, longing to hold steady in the Truth that holds you. Let the room grow quiet. You can lay the day’s cares at the feet of the One who came to dwell with us. And if you find yourself humming a carol in the hush, let it be this one.

“A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices…”