Andy Hawes    The Light of Hope   Houses, garden, streets and shops are ablaze with light; artificial light, glaring, twinkling, creating a celebratory atmosphere driving the dark away. There is no artificial light, no on off switch to drive [...]

Bishop Martin Warner recaps on the recent Assisted Dying Bill debate in the House of Lords   I felt constrained to begin my contribution to the debate with a theological view, as we had been challenged to do. It was [...]

ALL SAINTS, FRISKNEY, LINCS   As my car rolled up beside Friskney church that afternoon last July, it had been a dispiriting day. Church after church had been locked, over a year after the original COVID-19 closures. But Friskney was [...]

John Gayford journeys in heart and mind with the wise men   The journey of the Magi was long, arduous, and dangerous. Why did they come? Was it a pursuit of intellectual curiosity based upon very unusual astronomic observation; or [...]

Some Somerset church towers have particular distinguishing features. The ‘long-panelled’ design of the belfry at Wells S Cuthbert (1) is one such. John Harvey commented that its design was doubtless influenced by the fashion of the W towers of Wells [...]

Art   Poussin and the Dance National Gallery, London until 2nd January, 2022   Anthony Blunt – traitor, spy and art historian – had a reputation for great intelligence and a certain coldness. He was the twentieth century’s foremost expert [...]

Thurifer is nostalgic and nearsighted   We are now “living with Covid” as with influenza yet still threat of lockdown. Masks are still in evidence. Not everything is as it was. The social, economic and political consequences of the pandemic [...]

Christopher Smith looks ahead to next year’s calendar   Never mind that outdated old liturgical calendar you’ve got. Here are some dates for your next year’s diary. 20th February is the beginning of A-romantic Spectrum Awareness Week, which I gather [...]

Before moving on to seasonal matters, allow me to start with three pieces of good news. Firstly, the initial meeting of the Catholic Mission Network was a great success, involving a large number of Society clergy from across the country [...]

Christmas bread with dried fruit   Christbrot Christbrot is very similar to a Weihnachtsstollen, but lighter in texture, and is best eaten freshly baked without needing time to mature. This is one of the reasons why a Christbrot is more [...]