The Ephrata Cloister in Ephrata, Pa., will hold its annual Christmas Candlelight Tours Tuesday through Friday. Each year event from the cloister's past is highlighted during the tours, given by Student Historians of Pennsylvania. This year's tour recalls Sister Maria Eicher as her "contemporaries" reflect upon her life on Dec. 26, 1784, two days after her death. Sister Maria zTC lived at the cloister for 51 years and served for many of those years as the community's prioress. Complimentary refreshments are served after the tour.
Founded in 1732, the cloister is best known as a Colonial printing center and for its fine calligraphic writing, its volume of choral music and its fine, Germanic, medieval-style, log and half-timber buildings.
Tours are given on the half-hour between 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. Tickets cost $6 for adults; $5 for seniors; $4 for ages 6 to 17. Space is limited, and reservations are required. The cloister is at the junction of U.S. 322 and Route 272 in Ephrata. Call (717) 733-4811.
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Spend "An Evening at Sully," the home of northern Virginia's first representative to Congress, Richard Bland Lee, in Chantilly, Va., from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday.
Step back in time 200 years as re-enactors portray Lee's friends and family in an evening of holiday music by candlelight, 18th-century dancing, storytelling and gossip. Guests (adults only) can also enjoy a dessert table of cheeses, fruits and cakes, and a light punch.
Tickets cost $22.50. Reservations are suggested. Sully is on Route 28, three-quarters of a mile north of U.S. 50 and four miles south of the Dulles Toll Road. Call (703) 759-5241.