St Mark

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Saints, stained glass

St Mark's Window from St Mary's Church, Bicton Park

St David

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Saints

Today is St David’s Day.

David, or Dewi, was a monk and a bishop in the sixth century,  He is said to have based his Rule for his monasteries on that of the Egyptian desert monks, with a strong emphasis on hard work, abstinence from alcohol and refraining from unnecessary speech (unnecessary speech being anything that wasn’t prayer or an emergency).

It would appear it is highly appropriate that the day the church remembers him usually falls in Lent.  So to honour both our Welsh cousins and St David’s Rule of Life  I thought I would share this with you, it is the Collect for Purity in Welsh.

Hollalluog Dduw, i ti y mae pob calon yn agored, pob dymuniad hysbys, a phob dirgel yn amlwg: Glanha, gan hynny, feddyliau I ein calonnau trwy ysbrydoliaeth dy Lân Ysbryd, fel y gallom dy garu di’n berffaith, a mawrhau’n deilwng dy Enw santaidd; trwy Grist ein Harglwydd. Amen.

Valentine’s Day Spin

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Saints

Today is St Valentine’s Day, or as I prefer to think of it, yet another profit-making scheme for the retail trade.  If you have to wait till 14th February every year to tell someone you love them, or to hear that you are loved, then I really don’t know what to say.

Okay maybe some people need the little help to declare their love for the first time – but to then make any card anonymous as tradition states kind of defeats the purpose and of course there are those, especially on leap years like this year, who use the date to pop the question, but if they wouldn’t have popped it anyway then I think my advice would be to consider very carefully before you agree to marry them!

Roses, especially the red kind, shoot up in price at this time of the year.  Bakers festoon their shelves with the same cakes that they had out at Hallowe’en and Christmas only this time they have heart decorations.  They will be back come Mothering Sunday never fear, with flowers on them, and at Easter they will bear little chicks and chocolate eggs.  Supermarket take up isles not only with prospective gifts for the person who will think they are unloved without such a purchase, but also the ideal meal to ensure your loved one loves you back, some even double the price of the usual meal deals – 0h that will be an extra tenner for the box of 9 chocolates that aren’t usually included!  Then if you decide to take your loved one out to your favorite restaurant you will pretty soon discover that they will present you with a reduced menu, which you can almost guarantee wont include the one dish that makes it your favorite restaurant to make room for steak with valentine sauce or some such nonsense.

Now I have nothing against romance, Hubby can vouch for that, but I do think that it shouldn’t need to either cost the earth or be held hostage to a certain day.  So today by all means tell the one you love you love them, buy them a card and give them a gift, but please if you really love them make sure you let them know that all through the year.  And please if you are still paying off Christmas, and there will be those who are, then don’t get yourself into more debt just because the shops are making you feel guilty, if the person you love loves you back they wont want to see you get into a financial mess.

Never mind the commercial spin that has been put on this martyr’s feast day I think St Valentine will be spinning in his grave at the way his name has been hijacked.

Now I will get off my soap box.

St Andrew

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Advent, Photography

Today is St Andrew’s day the Patron saint of Scotland and of St Andrew’s Milngavie, which also by default means in these parts he is also the patron saint of fish suppers, as tonight after our Patronal Festival we will all tuck into fish and chips.

The picture above is a roof boss from Dryburgh Abbey showing St Andrew on his distinctive cross.  There are lots of stories about Andrew, from why he was crucified on a X-shaped cross, to how he came to Patron Saint of Scotland and as is often the case with the stories of the saints it can be hard to separate fact from later embellishments.  One of the things we hear is that Andrew was the first evangelist, going to tell his brother Peter that the Messiah had arrived, so I think it is highly appropriate that his feast day usually falls inside Advent.  St Andrew’s was prepared to follow, he was prepared to tell others, he was and is an Advent saint, the dawn of a new beginning and someone who we would do well to learn from.

Saint Cecilia

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Saints

Saint Cecilia is the patron saint of musicians and Church music and her feast day falls today.  As if often the case with early Christian martyrs there is some dispute over just when, where and how she died.  My preferred version is this one:

Cecilia her husband and brother-in-law held meetings of Christians in their home eventually her husband and his brother were arrested and then executed for practising Christianity.  Next on Prefect Turcius Almachius list was Cecilia herself.  Firstly the officials who went to arrest Cecilia attempted to kill her by smothering her with steam in a bath house, however, the attempt failed and she arrested and was to be executed by decapitation.  It is said that she refused to die until she had received Holy Communion and consequently despite trying to chop off her head three times, she remained alive, surviving another three days before finally dying.  Despite what must have been horrific neck injuries it is said that for those last three days she sang to God which is why she has been linked to musicians and Church music.

St Mungo

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Photography, Saints, The UK

St Mungo

St Mungo is the patron saint of Glasgow, and appears on Glasgow’s coat of arms along with the bird that never flew, the fish that never swam, the bell that never rang and the tree that never grew.  These four items attributed to tales of Mungo.

Mungo was raised by St Serf who gave him the name Mungo meaning dear one, he is also known as Kentigern.  Serf had a pet robin which was killed by some of Mungo’s jealous classmates, Mungo is said to have brought it back to life, hence the bird.  The tree also has a connection with St Serf.  Mungo was supposed to be keeping the fire going in the monastery one night and fell asleep allowing the fire to go out.  It is said that Mungo put branches from a tree on the fire and it relit.  The bell represents one that Mungo brought to Glasgow from Rome and was rung at funerals to call together the mourners.  It is said that it couldn’t be found when Mungo died because God didn’t want the people of Glasgow to mourn Mungo’s death but rather to rejoice in his passage into heaven.  A bell, known as St Mungo’s bell, continued to be rung to mark deaths as late as 1578, however this one also appears to have dissapeared as the City Council commissioned a new St Mungo’s bell on 22nd October 1640 and it is this one that is still in Glasgow’s People’s Palace.

The story of the fish is probably the most well-known.  Queen Languoreth of Strathclyde had given a ring that her husband gave her to her lover.  King Riderch had seen the ring on her lovers finger and taken it from him and thrown it into the river Clyde before going back to confront his wife.  Queen Languoreth was distraught knowing that she would face certain death if she couldn’t produce the ring, and her distress grew when she discovered what had happened to it, she went to Mungo to plead for his help.  What kind of help she went to plead for I do not know, but surely she didn’t expect what followed.  Mungo pulled a salmon out of the Clyde and in its mouth was the ring.

You can see Glasgow’s coat of arms here, the motto at the foot has been abbreviated, the full version is – Lord, let Glasgow flourish through the preaching of the word and the praising of your name.

St Augustine

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Photography, Saints, stained glass

St Augustine Stained Glass Window at St Mary's Canons Ashby

God Given Distraction

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Religion

Sometimes distractions can be annoying, sometimes they can be a relief, todays was a blessing.

While doing sermon preparation for Sunday’s sermon I was looking for the source and exact wording of a prayer that I was sure I had somewhere, actually I thought I knew exactly which book it was hidden in.  First flick through I didn’t find it, so after 10 minutes of flicking through other possible books I sat down and returned to the original book and started to be a bit more methodical.

An hour and a bit later I found it, but what a joyous hour and a half of distraction revisiting a book on early liturgy (one of my passions) which I hadn’t read in ages.

In case you were wondering what started this blessing off in the first place it was this:

O God Almighty, who didst cleanse the lips of the prophet Isaiah with a burning coal:  Cleanse my heart and my lips: so vouchsafe to cleanse me, of thy mercy, that I may be able to proclaim worthily thy holy Gospel: through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

St Ambrose

and if you are wondering why I wanted that, well you will just have to come along and listen on Sunday.

St Columba

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Saints

St Columba sailing to Scotland

St Nicholas

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Liturgical Seasons, Saints

Today is St Nicholas’ day, the day when many children in mainland Europe receive gifts.  St Nicholas was a bishop in Turkey and the story goes that he would leave coins in the shoes of people who were poor, in particular there is a story told about him involving 3 sisters.  They came from a poor family and both their father and St Nicholas were concerned that they wouldn’t be able to marry as they had no dowry, so he secretly gave three purses of gold, one for each daughter.  Some versions of this story say that he dropped them down the chimney so that they would be seen as a gift from God and they landed in the girls stockings that were drying by the fire!  From him developed the idea of Santa Claus and is the reason that Santa Claus is sometimes referred to as Old Nick.

St Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors and pawn pawnbrokers the three golden balls that traditionally hang outside their shops representing the three purses of gold.  Slightly ironic I feel that someone who gave to the poor ends up being the patron saint of people who make money from the less fortunate!

Today we can remember his generous spirit and while Christmas is still a way off maybe we should all take time out today to give a gift to someone else in need.  Be it donating money to a charity, giving tinned food to those who help the homeless, volunteering to do some charity work or anonymously putting some money in an envelope and posting it through the door of someone who we know will be struggling this Christmas.

On The Third Day Of Christmas

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Liturgical Seasons, Saints

The Church celebrates another saint.  This time it is Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist, John who walked and talked with Jesus, who fell asleep in the garden, stayed with him at the cross, witnessed the transfiguration, recognised him as the Christ, was known as ‘the beloved disciple’.  John; whose words from the first chapter of his Gospel would have been read out in Churches around the world as the Christmas Gospel.  No shepherds, no angels, or star for magi to follow, no journey to Bethlehem or manger, but without a doubt the true story of Christmas.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.  He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.  The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him.  He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.  But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.  And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

On The Second Day Of Christmas

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Liturgical Seasons, Saints

No not two turtle doves but a saint, St Stephen whose feast day is today.  His date is probably one of the most well known saints day due in part to the Carol ‘Good King Wenceslas’.

After the resurrection the apostles ordained seven deacons, to help look after the widows, orphans and poor; Stephen was one of those deacons.  The Bible says that his face looked like the face of an angel and not only did he help care for those less fortunate but also preached, he became the first Martyr of the Church, the tale of it goes something like this.

He was preaching in public one day chastising those who didn’t believe in Christ for being blind, they became angry and he looked up to heaven for inspiration and saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God.  On telling those watching of the vision they refused to listen to any more and dragged St. Stephen outside the city of Jerusalem and stoned him to death.  As he was being stoned he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” Then he fell to his knees and begged God not to punish his enemies for killing him.