Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Demetrius of Sirmium should be the patron saint of anyone who takes a stand for the right, despite knowing they will suffer for it. Demetrius was a soldier from Serbia in the fourth century.  He fought for the Roman Emperor, and that took courage.  Then Demetrius converted to Christianity – and took his stand with...

People involved in church or village life are often asked to join committees or to help run things. These include trusts and charities, being a PCC member, school governors and hospital managers, village hall groups and I suppose judging bonny baby competitions. These community positions are vital for the good of everyone, but unfortunately not...

Have you ever held your head in your hands and felt that events were against you? Then Denys is the saint for you.  This Christian martyr knew all about holding his head in his hands when times got rough. According to Gregory of Tours, Denys was an Italian bishop who became the first bishop of...

Thomas Traherne (1636 – 1674) is a good saint for anyone who loves our planet, and who wants to preserve Creation.   This 17th century poet and clergyman wrote extensively about his love for nature, seeing in it a reflection of the glory of God. Traherne was not of a literary family, for his father was...

Here is a saint for you if you have lost the person you love.  Here is a saint for you if you would not let your wealth and security stop you from doing something daringly good with your life. Francis Borgia (1510 – 72) certainly began with it ‘all’.  He was the son of a...

All in the month of October Remembering Desmond Tutu Oskar Schindler – the German businessman who befriended the Jews Where do postcodes come from?< Remembering the music of Chopin Walkers could lose 40,000 miles of footpaths< Safer to fly than ever before Our hedgehogs are in crisis The post and the gastropods ** Editor:  We...

James the Deacon is the saint for any lay person who has stepped in to lead their church when the clergy are far away. In fact, an historian has called James the Deacon ‘the one heroic figure’ in the Roman mission to Northumbria. No wonder – in a time of political chaos, with the king...

When you’re bored, do you follow the growing popular trend of flicking from one short video to another on your phone? It is a habit many people have picked up from visiting YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok. But if you do it for hours on end, it is called ‘doomscrolling’. Now a recent study...

 It was: – 250 years ago, on 26th Oct 1774 that the Colony of Massachusetts Bay began building up its militia of ‘minute men’, who could respond to the growing British threat at a moment’s notice. The American Revolutionary War began a few months later. 200 years ago, on 21st Oct 1824 that British mason,...

Elizabeth Fry had endless compassion and endless energy – and together with a steadfast determination to do God’s work, this outstanding philanthropist became one of the foremost promoters of prison reform – not just in Britain, but in all of Europe. Elizabeth was born in 1780, far from any prison. The family lived in Norwich,...

So warns the head of the National Crime Agency (NCA). Graeme Biggar, the director general of the NCA, points to the increasing use of synthetic opioids in recreational narcotics. It seems that deadly substances such as nitazenes and fentanyl are being used by drug dealers to bulk out their batches of heroin, and to make...

If you approve of giving money to help cathedrals survive, then Edward the Confessor (1003 – 66) is the saint for you.  This early King of England was the virtual founder of Westminster Abbey.  And never mind entrance charges –   at one point in his life, Edward was giving a full tenth of his income...