Monthly Archives: December 2011

Seventh Day of Christmas……

Saturday within the Octave of Christmas… Feast of St Sylvester St Sylvester isn’t much celebrated here in England but he was a Pope…indeed the Pope who convened the First Council of Nicea….from which the great (Nicene) Creed takes it name. … Continue reading

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Sixth Day of Christmas

The Feast of the Holy Family This feast is usually kept on the Sunday within the octave of Christmas…but as this year that Sunday will fall on the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God it is instead kept today. … Continue reading

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Fifth Day of Christmas

Feast of St Thomas of Canterbury… Thomas a Becket was one of the great figures of Medieval history… partly because his story is compelling in itself and partly because his story illustrates the wider struggle between the secular and ecclesiastical … Continue reading

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Letter to America — a commentary on the 2012 US elections from the UK

The US elections of 2012 Letter to America I was in my fourth year of secondary school when in the snows of New Hampshire in March 1968 Lyndon Johnson almost lost the Democratic Party Primary to Senator Eugene McCarthy…the rest … Continue reading

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The Fourth Day of Christmas……

The Feat of Holy Innocents….. It’s superficially strange that in the midst of these happiest celebrations of the birth of Redemption we should also commemorate a shocking act of violence. The slaughter at Bethlehem mars the simple beauty of a … Continue reading

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The Third Day of Christmas…..

The Feast of St John… Apostle & Evangelist ( ‘the beloved’) In the Golden Legend Isidore observes of St John, that he: changed branches from the forests trees into gold and the pebbles of the beach into precious stones St … Continue reading

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The Second day of Christmas

The feast of St Stephen, the Protomartyr…. St Stephen is the Protomartyr of Christianity….the first martyr…his stoning is described vividly in the Acts of the Apostles…it is his particular witness that he sees The son of Man (Jesus’s term for … Continue reading

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The First Day of Christmas………..

The Nativity of the Lord…..is the first Day of Christmas Christmas is one of the shorter seasons of the church lasting only 12 days…but it was a continuous feast that began at Midnight on Christmas Eve and lasted until the … Continue reading

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Sleeping Beauty at the Stag in Victoria….panto at its very best

Pantomime at the Stag, Victoria, SW I – The Sleeping Beauty The Stag has something of a reputation for its Panto and this year I was lucky enough to catch their version of Sleeping Beauty by Jon Bradfield & Martin … Continue reading

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Belshazzar’s Feast….Barbican Centre…..10th December 2011

Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast and other tasty morsels…… a concert at the Barbican Centre BBC Symphony Orchestra and Choir conducted by Edward Gardner Gerald Finley, baritone…. Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast has been a long time crowd pleaser since it was first performed … Continue reading

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