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St Nicholas Day in Italy, Spain and Turkey

In 1885 Father Christmas made his first appearance in a British department store. This was Beales in Bournemouth and his annual arrival during the 20th century was much like the appearance in procession of St Nicholas in the main square of Nancy in Lorraine last Saturday. The French town was crowded with families seeing St […]

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Stir Up Sunday

This Sunday is not the start of Advent or Christmas. It’s Christ the King and the climax of the Christian year. But the the first line of the old 6th-century collect for this Sunday, which some Anglican churches will have as the Post Communion prayer, has led to the popular name Stir Up Sunday. Stir up, […]

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#SlowChristmas #NotXmasYet

The ‘festive Maltesers McFlurry ‘ is already available in McDonalds where paper bags proclaim ‘Christmas is here’. But it’s not. Last Sunday was the Second Sunday before Advent or the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. Next Sunday is the climax of the Christian year when we celebrate Christ the King. Advent starts in two weeks time. Only […]

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Covent Garden’s Corpus Christi

Cardinal Vincent Nichols has declared Corpus Christi Church in Covent Garden to be the Westminster Diocesan Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament. When the delightful little Corpus Christi church in Maiden Lane was opened in 1874 it was only the second church in England to have the dedication. St Juliana of Liege, who in the 13th […]

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Corpus Christi: Juliana’s message from Liege

Today Thursday 31 May is Corpus Christi when we give thanks for the gift of Holy Communion. We do this because from about 1208 St Juliana of Liege received messages from God suggesting that we should do so. She had a long struggle to convince all the male clergy that this was God’s wish. The […]

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Trinity Sunday: A new start

This weekend we reach Trinity Sunday. The Trinity is the name for God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. three in one and one in three. Since the end of November we have lived through the birth, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Trinity Sunday is the beginning of the second half of the year when […]

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St Matthias: an appropriate date this year

Today is the Sunday between The Ascension last Thursday and Pentecost next Sunday. The first followers of Christ, about 120 people, spent the ten days in between in Jerusalem waiting for the Holy Spirit. They used the time to choose a replacement for Judas, the group’s treasurer, who had betrayed Jesus and triggered his arrest […]

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Ascension tower top singing

Thursday 10 May is Ascension Day when we recall Christ ascending to heaven forty days after his resurrection. This is the climax of Easter marked in many places by tower-top singing. Choirs ascend their church tower to mark the day. It will happen at St Davids Cathedral at 5.30am; Southwark Cathedral at 7.30am, Lichfield Cathedral […]

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May Day starts Month of Mary

This morning many people were up early to welcome the month of May. Morris dancers were performing on Runnymede at 5am. Choirboys sang at 6am from the top of Magdalen College Oxford. We shall see more of this on Ascension Day next week. It was also the hour for the ‘Obby ‘Oss to appear at […]

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