December 21, 2017
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Just days before the outbreak of the Thomas Fire, some 150 Thomas Aquinas College students brought the joy of Advent and the promise of Christmas into the marketplace, staging a choral “flash mob” at The Oaks shopping mall in Thousand Oaks, California.

After furtively gathering around the mall’s central Christmas display — by the Santa Claus photo center — the students simultaneously burst into song. They began with “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” then moved on to “Ding Dong Merrily on High” and “The First Noel.” For the grand finale, they concluded with a rousing rendition of “Joy to the World.” The mall’s surprised customers and employees seemed to delight in the performance.

First organized by junior Giorgio Navarini (’17) in 2013, the yuletide event has become something of a College tradition. The inaugural flash mob  was so widely and well received — generating some 60,000 views and coverage from EWTN’s World Over — that students have been enthusiastic about doing it again every year since, preparing in their spare time for weeks in advance.

He rules the world
With truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love
And wonders of His love
And wonders, wonders of His love.