When I was a student nurse at a big Melbourne hospital in the 1960s we rehearsed carols for weeks before Christmas. Everyone on the medical staff was included from the most senior doctor to the newest student nurse. We sang together at a time when we students were not allowed to speak to a doctor unless we were spoken to - and we never were. On Christmas Eve we were given lanterns with candels inside and dressed in our white uniforms, ankle-lenth aprons in our case, we walked through the wards singing. As we came to the end of each ward we stepped down to the next floor via the fire escape stairs. From the outside the 10 storey building was lit up like a Christmas tree by the hundreds of candels. The inside lights were turned off except for dim emergency ones. I can still recall the magic.