Luke 1:26-29

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 

Welcome to our Advent Calendar!

On this first day of our Advent Calendar, click here to hear a reflection from our chaplain Carolyn on the poem The Sacrament of Waiting by Macrina Wiederkehr.

Luke 1:30

The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. 

Christmas Carols on the Cello

On this second day of advent, Jeremy would like to offer you a couple of carols on his cello! Click on the links to listen to Jingle Bells and Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

If you would prefer something a bit more serious, then here’s Fauré’s Elégie, Bach’s Sarabande and Bourée and Bach’s Prelude suite 1, suite 2 and suite 3. Jeremy’s voice is a little quiet, but once he starts playing you won’t have any trouble hearing the ‘cello. Enjoy!

Luke 1:31

And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 

Nativity Scenes

Ray and Hilary found this Provençal stable in a craft fair in the south of France many years ago and have added one figure each year since. The figures are called Santons and are a typical Provençal craft. Click here for a video tour.

A few years ago Liz Martinez and her family visited Rome for a few days during the Christmas period. All of the churches had the most wonderful and inventive nativity scenes in them. We enjoyed so much getting out of the cold and rain and warming our hands and hearts whilst looking at the imagination and detail that had been put into these lovingly made scenes. These two short films show something of  the Italian tradition:

Click here for a video of the Pope visiting the location of the first Nativity scene in Greccio, Italy.
Click here for a Nativity scene created by a street cleaner in Rome.

Luke 1:32-33

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ 

Jan Powell would like to share with you her lockdown project!

In the middle of the COVID 19 lockdown in March, I needed to stir myself out of a rather overwhelming feeling of isolation and lethargy. I decided to change my focus and reach out to friends and colleagues in various far flung places to find out how they were coping. The result was this podcast, Staying in with Jan Powell. It is really a series of audio postcards from the pandemic in which my guests share their personal stories, highs, lows and comedy moments, the things they hated and the things that got them through the hard times. Around a third of the world s population have been stuck at home this year and its been really surprising to find out that the experience of being confined at home has been so different for each and every one of us.

Click here and scroll down to find the episodes

Luke 1:34-38

Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.  And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.

A reflection from Heidi

At the end of this first week of Advent, Heidi would like to share some thoughts with you, click here to watch.