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Thoughts on the Incarnation The Son came out from the Father to help us to come out from the world; He descended to us to enable us to ascend to Him. – Anthony of Padua Christ became what we are that He might make us what He is. – Athanasius I hope your Christmas has...

This year was a Leap Year. Were 1900 and 2000 Leap Years? What is Whamaggedon? Alan Bates hit the headlines in January? He shares his name with a famous actor but why is he well known? HRH Duke of Edinburgh met a special resident at S Helena in January who had also met his grandparents....

A well-known atheist was being interviewed on Radio 4. When asked how he spent Christmas, he said that he went to Midnight Mass at church. “But you’re an atheist”, his interviewer protested. “Yes”, he replied, “but what they celebrate at Christmas is the most beautiful story ever told.” That ‘beautiful story’ tells of a Creator...

After the bright beam of annunciation fused heaven with dark earth His searing sharply-focused light went out for a while eclipsed in amniotic gloom: His cool immensity of splendour His universal grace< small-folded in a warm dim female space This extract from Luci Shaw’s poem Made Flesh captures something of the wonder of the moment when...

A lot of us will be out taking walks over the festive period. But do you get nervous when you see someone walking towards you while trying to control a number of various kinds of dogs on the lead? Last year a woman was mauled to death while out walking eight dogs at one time....

The death of a very young child is perhaps the hardest grief of all to bear.  So the 28th December is a very poignant day in the church calendar.  It is when the worldwide Church joins with bereaved parents to grieve the loss of babies and young children.  For Holy Innocents day recalls the massacre...

 The Rectory St James the Least My dear Nephew Darren So, you are excited about being invited to plan your first Carol Service. The dangers involved are only slightly less than being invited to judge the best cake made by the Ladies’ Group. You seem to have no idea of the lifelong offence you will...

In response to almost 5,500 deaths in England and Wales in 2023 due to drug poisoning The Salvation Army is calling for the roll-out of life-saving overdose reversal drug Naloxone in England and Wales. New annual figures recently released by ONS (Office For National Statistics) show that during 2023 in England and Wales there were:...

Sundays of the Month Editor:  Continuing our new feature, as we thought you might find it helpful to know what the Sundays of each month are called… 3rd November              Fourth Sunday before Advent 10th November            Third Sunday before Advent – REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY 17th November            Second Sunday before Advent 24th November            Christ the King –...

All Saints, or All Hallows, is the feast of all the redeemed, known and unknown, who are now in heaven. When the English Reformation took place, the number of saints in the calendar was drastically reduced, with the result that All Saints’ Day stood out with a prominence that it had never had before. This...

The first martyrs of Rome are recorded in the old Roman Martyrology, which states that: ‘At Rome, the birthday is celebrated of very many martyrs, who under the Emperor Nero were falsely charged with the burning of the city and by him were ordered to be slain by various kinds of cruel death; some were...

The early Church was slow to dedicate a liturgical day to offering prayers and masses to commemorate the faithful departed.  But in time prayers were offered on behalf of dead monks, that they might attain ‘the Beatific Vision’ through purification, which the Church later described as Purgatory.  Odilo, the powerful abbot of Cluny, (d 1049)...