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It is Matthew and Luke who tell the story of how the angel instructed that Mary’s baby was to be named Jesus – a common name meaning ‘saviour’.  The Church recalls the naming of Jesus on 1 January – eight days after 25 December (by the Jewish way of reckoning days).  For in Jewish tradition,...

The name Jesus is a transliteration of a name that occurs in several languages.  It is of Hebrew origin, ‘Yehosua’, or Joshua.  Or there is the Hebrew-Aramaic form, ‘Yesua’.  In Greek, it became ‘ Ἰησοῦς’ (Iēsoûs),  and in Latin it became ‘Iesus’. The meaning of the name is ‘Yahweh delivers’ or ‘Yahweh rescues’, or ‘Yahweh...

All in the month of JANUARY Remember the Millennium Bug? Bridge Over Troubled Water When we found Antarctica Old words, new meanings Your dog and the postman Diabetes could ‘bankrupt’ the health service Antidepressants can really help Where are the mothers for the PTA? ** Editor:  We continue our column that looks at memorable dates...

Basil was most people’s idea of the perfect diocesan bishop. He was a theologian of distinction, who as a monk devoted himself to much prayer and teaching.  He leapt to the defence of the Church from the persecution of the Arian emperor Valens, but also appreciated great secular literature of the time, gave away his...

By Thomas Graumann, SPCK, £11.99 Aged eight, Thomas Graumann boarded a train in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to embark on what he believed was a three-month holiday. “Go to Britain, learn English, and when the Germans leave, you can come home again,” his mother assured him.  Thomas knew his country had been taken over by the Germans...

It was: 200 years ago, on 27th and 30th Jan 1820 that Antarctica was discovered.  A Russian expedition sighted the Fimbul Ice Shelf, but not land.  Three days later a captain in the British Royal Navy sighted the Trinity Peninsula. 175 years ago, on 29th Jan 1845 that Edgar Allen Poe’s poem The Raven was...

‘Discipline’ is now virtually a banned word, along with ‘risk’, ‘problem’ and ‘failure’. They seem to have been replaced respectively by ‘focus’, ‘safety‘, ‘challenge’ and ‘opportunity’. On the occasions when we do recognise and applaud the virtue of discipline, it’s usually in the lives and activities of soldiers, police officers, dressage horses and the dog....

Quite frankly, this hermit was about as weird as they come.  But he loved God, and God blessed him, strange though he was.  So perhaps Simeon Stylites (390 – 459) should be the patron saint of all REALLY eccentric people. Simeon was the son of a shepherd on the Syrian border of Cilicia.  He joined...

Just over 20 years ago, there was widespread panic – or at least deep concern – over what might happen when the calendar switched over to the year 2000 on 1st January, and the effect on computers of the so-called Y2K ‘Millennium Bug’. The problem was that computers so long ago were laughably short of...

On 6th January we celebrate Epiphany – the visit of the Wise Men to the baby Jesus.  But who were these Wise Men?  No one knows for sure.  Matthew calls them ‘Magi’, and that was the name of an ancient caste of a priestly kind from Persia.  It wasn’t until the third century that they...

The album Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel was released 50 years ago, on 26th January 1970. It topped the charts in ten countries and sold 25 million records. It was their fifth and final studio album. The song itself, one of their most widely known, was influenced by gospel music, especially the...

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2020 Holocaust Memorial Day – 75 years since Auschwitz World Leprosy Sunday – 26th January Silence can be golden – as long as the transmitters don’t cut out! Garden recycling project needs your old tools China: growing religious persecution  Looking for clergy in need of financial support Yoga and...