Here on the Isle of Wight we are facing the joys of a hosepipe ban. Our lovely green island is beginning to look a little brown, and my vegetables are…
Lady Day – a game of four quarters
Each year on 25th March, Lady Day quietly marks one of the most significant—yet often overlooked—dates in the traditional English calendar. Known formally as the Feast of the Annunciation, it…
Quinquagesima – were they guessing?
Don’t you just love these names? Septuagesima, Sexagesima, Quinquagesima… I just love them, and although I would always go for a silly sounding Latin name over its modern equivalent, I…
The road to Damascus
There are many phrases that we tend to take for granted in every day use, which come from the Bible. It’s no wonder that they still give the Bible to…
Twelfth Night
I don’t know about you, but I am pretty keen to get the decorations down long before Twelfth Night – usually around New Year’s Eve – which is just as…
O Sapientia
I guess I’m not as observant as I could be, but this year – no doubt because I am now the editor of the Churchwarden’s Yearbook, and really do need…
Advent 2
On Monday 8th December, with two of our Advent candles lit, we celebrate the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This lesser festival marks the day on which Mary herself…
Advent advenit
To a former Latin teacher like me, there is something rather wonderful about the world of churches and the Church in general. It is difficult not to find this ancient…