Hark! The herald Angels Sing

Hark! the Herald Angels Sing: Carols for Christmas was produced by the National Gallery, London.  I bought it for my son who plays the piano beautifully and has done so from a very young age.  It includes the music and words to a number of traditional Christmas carols.  Each carol is illustrated with beautiful paintings that have depicted the story of Jesus' birth.  Each painting is reproduced to an A4 size, so it is wonderful to sit and gaze at each picture and marvel at the detail.
Michael still uses this book for playing at any carol service.
There are three wonderful CDs that we also have enjoyed each December as a family.  Brightest Morning, Perfect Day and Glorious Night are compilations of Christmas music of "peace and tranquility", produced by the ABC.  Not sure of they are still available.  There is a quote from Charles Dickens on one of them from his book 
The Christmas Carol: " I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."  
I think it is sad that most of us approach Christmas with a sense of dread sitting in the pit of our stomach - so much to do, presents to buy and wrap, concerts to attend, extra social gatherings to fit into an already busy schedule, meals and holidays to plan, hot humid weather and long balmy evenings when the last thing that children want to do is go to bed and go to sleep.  These CDs provided me with much solace.  
Years ago, we were captivated by a ten minute segment that used to happen every morning on ABC Classic FM radio when Christopher Lawrence was the presenter.  At 8.10 am each morning, he would play a "swoon" - a piece of music that was simply beautiful and all you wanted to do was sit, listen, relax and be transported momentarily into another world.  We all worked around this spot in our morning routine.  Even the mornings when we all had to be in the car, it would be a race to be seated, buckled and ready to put the radio on for our daily "swoon".  
To me, these Christmas CDs are my Christmas swoon.  I also enjoy those moments when Michael chooses to play some Christmas Carols from this book.  I will sit and listen and sing along.