It has been a typical November day today (to look at) but as it is 11 degrees Centigrade it is still unnaturally warm for the time of year. There are also still some leaves on the trees and a few flowers blooming! The downside is that we have had a lot of rain and mud is everywhere. R kindly washed my car earlier which was extremely noble of him as it has been drizzling, then raining, all day.
We went to the church this afternoon to make sure all was clean and tidy as we have a service there tomorrow. We will be celebrating Christ the King – ‘the all-embracing authority of Christ’ (Oxford Concise Dictionary of the Christian Church).
I find this service uplifting and it is good to celebrate before we enter Advent next Sunday, which is a quiet time of meditation and preparation.
This Sunday – the last before Advent – used to be known as ‘Stir-up Sunday’ which comes from the Collect prayer for the 25th Sunday after Trinity. ‘Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded’. Many thought this was the time to be’ stirring up’ their Christmas puddings, though of course, the best time to prepare a good Christmas pudding is in October. It needs to mature thoroughly!
R was reminded of the famous poem by Thomas Hood, written in 1844.
‘No sun – no moon!
No morn – no noon –
No dawn – no dusk – no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member –
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! –
November!’
A Suffolk Lane 
I think your November is much like ours. It is said to be the cloudiest month of all here, and I can believe it. Not very helpful when you’re trying for nature photos!
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I agree! I don’t know if I am a little strange but I quite like November. I like the mist and fog (except when I have to drive anywhere) and the damp. I like all the seasons and all weathers. Life would be so dull if every day was the same.
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I like those kinds of days once in a while too but after a month of them I’m usually ready for a little sunshine. I agree that it would be very dull if every day were the same, even if they were all perfect weather.
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I must agree with you again – you can always have too much of a good thing!
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I think that I would take the rain and mud, along with warmer temperatures, rather that record setting cold and snow happening where I live. 😉
It does look very gloomy there in your photos though, I hope that you get a little sunshine for a while.
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I do not envy you your awful weather! At least we can still get about easily in spite of the slippery mud. As I was saying to Allen, I do quite like this November weather – we need times like this to appreciate the fine days.
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November very nicely captured in your photographs. I liked the welcoming windows in the church.
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Thank-you!
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Gee, I get the impression that Thomas Hood did not like November.
Clare: how do you mark/celebrate Advent? Do you have a daily or weekly ritual?
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I don’t think he liked it much either – though I think he was just being ‘clever’! At church we have the usual weekly services but in recent years have lit an Advent candle each week during the service and say special prayers over it. I provide the Advent crown which I decorate with evergreen leaves and twigs etc. We have a Nine Lessons and Carols service quite close to Christmas and at the beginning of Advent we also host a Carols and Capers service when our local Morris dancers and folk groups visit the church and sing and dance. This is a lovely evening and I would hate to miss it. I hope to do a post about it, as long as we can get back from Manchester on time as we are visiting my in-laws that week-end.
At home our tradition has always been to make an Advent crown and when I and my brother and sister were little and also when my girls were young too, we sang a carol as the candle is lit. We have also always had Advent calendars with little windows to open each day. We don’t decorate the house for Christmas until quite late compared with most other people as we like Advent! Do you have any traditions?
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We have Advent services each week and light the candle and different members of the congregation say the words that accompany the lighting of the candle.
Then, of course, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
I wanted to do a daily ritual – in addition to our prayers, but couldn’t think of something simple and meaningful.
Have been looking for an Advent calendar too, but haven’t seen one.
Your traditions sound both sacred and fun. We drive a distance to our church now, so we head there mainly once weekly, but I think I’m wanting to do something extra during the Advent season in part because I want to honour the sacredness of the days leading into Christmas, and it’s less easy to just pop over to the church these days.
Can you please describe the 9 lessons and carols service? What are the 9 lessons?
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I know what you mean about needing to do something extra during Advent. I sometimes do what I do during Lent and find instructive reading to do. Some societies publish sets of bible readings for all the days of Advent with ‘thoughts for the day’ and a prayer. I was given one of these a couple of years ago and have just looked where I thought I had put it and its not there! Goodness only knows where it’s got to. Our Rector usually adds an article about the ‘O Antiphons’ in our church magazine in December and these are worth a read. They are 7 special prayers said with the Magnificat and are spoken/chanted during the last week of Advent. Each one highlights a title for the Messiah – O Sapienta(Wisdom), O Adonai(O Lord), O Radix Jesse(Root of Jesse), O Clavis David(O Key of David), O Oriens(O Rising Sun), O Rex Gentium(O King of the Nations) and O Emmanuel. Each one refers to the prophecy of Isaiah about the coming of the Messiah. I am probably telling you things you already know but I believe the prayers can be found on-line.
The Nine Lessons and Carols is a traditional service celebrating the birth of Jesus. The nine readings are usually from the bible but they don’t have to be. They start with The Fall in Genesis 3 when God tells Adam he has to leave Paradise. The next reading is from Genesis 22 with God’s promise to Abraham and then a couple from Isaiah – Chapter 9 & Chapter 11 – with his prophecy. The next five are from the Gospels – Angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary (Luke 1), the birth of Christ (Luke 2), the shepherds (Luke 2), the Magi (Matthew 2)) and finally the reading from John 1 about the Word. Any one of these can be replaced by a poem or excerpt from a book e.g. T S Eliot’s lovely ‘Journey of the Magi’. The readings are interspersed with carols/hymns/choral music etc. Th most famous 9 L & C we have here is from King’s College, Cambridge and it is broadcast annually on Christmas Eve on radio and television. I think it is also broadcast in many other places around the world too at some time over the Christmas period. These services are always popular as everyone seems to like singing carols no matter how uninterested they are in church all the rest of the year!
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Hello, Clare! I like Your Beautiful Church, Your village and Your post. Thank You for taking Us there! Kudos and Regards. 🙂
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Thank-you! You are very kind to say so. Best regards and wishes to you!
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I have never heard that poem before – it sums up November perfectly, I didn’t realise that stir up Sunday had a different meaning either. I feel relieved as i have never stirred up a Christmas pudding on stir up Sunday.
Our church is non conformist so doesn’t mark advent. I feel that we miss out. Several years ago we were in Switzerland and advent was very special to the people we stayed with. i have very happy memories of soecial food, songs and traditions. We light advent candles at home and I have a proper advent calendar as well as one I made. It’s such a special time of waiting and looking forward.
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Yes it is! I feel sorry for all the people who decorate their houses for Christmas at the beginning of December and are then so fed up with it by Boxing Day that it all disappears along with the wrapping paper. The C of E has always celebrated Advent but only recently has it started to light candles etc as I said in my post. The prayers said at the services during Advent have always concentrated on asking God to help us to be good Christians and to be prepared for the Second Coming. The candle lighting brightens it up a little I suppose.
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A very deep and otherworldly post, dear Clare ⭐
Excellent photographs… Plus Thomas Hood´s is beautiful and breathtaking!.
Sending you all my best wishes!. Aquileana 😀
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Thank-you very much for your kind comments, dear Aquileana! My best wishes to you too! Clare:)
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Clare, I think, the special atmosphere in autumn is always an inspiration.
We know that everything follows its rhythm and that the circle closes again and again. After autumn and winter comes the next spring and a new summer. We are well aware that we ourselves are getting older in this cycle.
But today is such a beautiful sunny day again, on which the colors of autumn are particularly bright.
Dear Clare, stay safe and have a nice day as well!!!
Rosie 🍁🍁🍂🍁🍁.
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We have had such a lot of rain and high winds this weekend! It is calm now and I think it will be quiet for the next couple of days until the next storm arrives on Wednesday. I am glad you have had a lovely day today ❤ ❤ ❤
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💖💖💖!!!
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