General Chat

Good morning :-)


Recalling what Candlemass was all about..............
They came, as called, according to the Law.
Though they were poor and had to keep things simple,
They moved in grace, in quietness, in awe,
For God was coming with them to His temple.
Amidst the outer court’s commercial bustle
They’d waited hours, enduring shouts and shoves,
Buyers and sellers, sensing one more hustle,
Had made a killing on the two young doves.
They come at last with us to Candlemas
And keep the day the prophecies came true
We glimpse with them, amidst our busyness,
The peace that Simeon and Anna knew.
For Candlemas still keeps His kindled light,
Against the dark our Saviour’s face is bright.



Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


There is a variety of candles in churches:

Altar Candles
Altar candles hold a significant role in religious ceremonies, symbolising the light of Christ. Typically placed on the altar, these candles are lit during services to represent Christ’s presence among the worshippers.

Votive Candles - those small candles set aside for people to light.
These are lit as a sign of prayer, remembrance, or thanksgiving. People light these candles with specific intentions, such as seeking blessings, expressing gratitude, or seeking comfort in times of need. The act of lighting a votive candle carries a deep spiritual significance in many traditions.

The sanctuary lamp, also known as the eternal light, is a candle that is suspended from the ceiling or mounted on the wall near the Lord's table and constantly burning throughout the week. These days, the lamp tends to be lit by electricity. The lamp is traditionally lit beside the tabernacle to indicate the presence of the consecrated elements.

The Paschal Candle has its origins in the early Christian church. In the first few centuries after Christ’s death and resurrection, Christians would celebrate the Easter Vigil by lighting a large bonfire, symbolizing Christ’s light overcoming the tomb's darkness. The Paschal Candle is lit from this fire, representing Christ’s resurrection and victory over death.

This candle reminds the faithful of the darkness of sin and death, and how Christ’s light brings hope and life.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


Candles come in all shapes, sizes and colours and are very popular with many people. They are big business!

Candles have been important in religious ceremonies for centuries, starting with ancient civilizations like the Egyptians and Romans. In Christian worship, candles symbolize the light of Christ and by the 4th century, churches commonly used candles to show the divine presence and to light up dim spaces.

Light is meaningful across many faiths, and in Christianity, it symbolizes God’s presence, hope, purity, and enlightenment. Candles represent Christ as the "light of the world." They help create a sacred atmosphere in worship and show the connection between the divine and the faithful followers.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

I was 'churched' after the birth of my children too kandj. It doesn't really happen nowadays, but there is a service of thanksgiving that can be used. <3

A hymn which suits Candlemass perfectly.

Longing for light, we wait in darkness
Longing for truth, we turn to You.
Make us Your own, Your holy people
Light for the world to see.

Christ, be our light!
Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in Your church gathered today.

Longing for peace, our world is troubled
Longing for hope, many despair.
Your word alone has pow'r to save us.
Make us your living voice.
Refrain

Longing for food, many are hungry
Longing for water, many still thirst.
Make us Your bread, broken for others
Shared until all are fed.
Refrain

Longing for shelter, many are homeless
Longing for warmth, many are cold.
Make us Your building, sheltering others
Walls made of living stone.
Refrain

Many the gift, many the people
Many the hearts that yearn to belong.
Let us be servants to one another
Making Your kingdom come.
Refrain

Cx :-)

Hello all

Cynthia I was "churched" after my baby was born. It was the norm back then, I don't hear of it now?

Vera, so very sorry for your loss. The final resting place of your daughter's partner sounds peaceful, and I do hope this will bring some comfort to you all.

Good morning :-)


Candlemas isn’t that well known out of church circles, but it marks the day Mary completed her purification 40 days after giving birth to Jesus and presented Him at the Temple in Jerusalem. The Gospel of Luke describes how Simeon recognized Jesus as a Light to the World.

In Jewish tradition, women were seen as unclean after childbirth for 40 days (60 for girls) and could not worship during that time. After this period, they underwent a purification ceremony to return to religious services. It's reminiscent of the service of 'churching' which was once very popular in this country.

Candlemas is named for the day when all church candles are blessed, representing hope and light. Many people light candles in their windows on Candlemas night. This celebration also connects to ancient festivals of light that marked the midpoint of winter, as people lit candles to drive away darkness and evil spirits.


Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

Thank you Vera, and I am glad that all went as well as could be expected for your family funeral. It sounds just the right sort of farewell for a much-loved person.

Yesterday’s reading about Jesus being taken to the Temple gives us that beautiful prayer uttered by Simeon and used in the church throughout the world for centuries – known as the Nunc Dimittis

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace :
according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen :
thy salvation;
Which thou hast prepared :
before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles :
and to be the glory of thy people Israel
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
world without end. Amen.

Simply glorious……………………Thanks be to God.

Cx :-)

Good afternoon

Another thought provoking, and heart wrenching, week with stories of the Holocaust. It is so hard to comprehend how it could have happened. There was so much bravery shown by those who saved lives and we must be thankful for them. Thank you Cynthia for the posts.

It has been a sad week for us as we have all said our goodbyes to our daughter’s dear partner. As he was not a person of faith she arranged a secular service but asked the celebrant to include the Lord’s Prayer for anyone who would like to join in. The service was followed by a peaceful and moving woodland burial. He had enjoyed being outdoors in nature and loved trees so it seemed fitting.

Hello all

Candlemas service in church this morning which marks the last feast day of the Christmas cycle, and recognises the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple.

Lots of candles were blessed and placed all around our church, they symbolise Christ as the Light of the World.

Candlemas is also known for the rhyme about the weather, which says:

If Candlemas Day be fair and bright,
Winter will have another flight,
If Canflemas Day be wind and rain,
Winter has gone and will not come again.

Today has been "fair and bright", hmmm????

Sunday blessings to all who are struggling today.

Good morning :-)

The Collect (special prayer for today)
Almighty and ever-living God,
clothed in majesty,
whose beloved Son was this day presented in the Temple,
in substance of our flesh:
grant that we may be presented to you
with pure and clean hearts,
by your Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen


Today, we hear how Mary and Joseph took the infant Jesus to the Temple.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


Never again

Eternal God,
we come before You
to remember the victims of the Holocaust.
We lament the loss of six million Jews
who were killed in the Holocaust,
the millions of other victims of Nazi persecution,
and victims of all genocides.
As we remember and lament
all those whose lives have been lost,
help us to work for a better future today.
We pray for a day when all shall be free
to live in peace, unity and love.
Amen.

Cx :-)

Hello all

Cynthia, what harrowing stories you have shared in this week's postings.

I remember seeing the Schindler's List film very many years ago and I can still recall the horror of what had been shown on the cinema screen.

Please God may it never ever happen again.

Good morning :-)

The Windermere Children

As Jewish persecution intensified, Leonard Montefiore founded the Central British Fund for Jewish Relief (CBF) and initiated the Kindertransport, which aimed to transport Jewish orphans to safety. After World War II, Montefiore sought funding to bring 300 surviving orphans to Windermere, Cumbria.

A temporary reception centre was established, repurposing barracks with the aim of providing a welcoming environment for the children, who had survived the horrors of concentration camps like Theresienstadt. To the staff's surprise, when the planes arrived, the children were mostly teenagers rather than the young ones they had anticipated. The first groups that landed looked healthier than expected due to two months of recovery, but some still bore physical signs of malnutrition. Despite strict immigration policies elsewhere, the CBF successfully appealed to the British government, bringing an additional 432 child survivors to the UK.

For these children, their story of survival will always be rooted in one corner of northwest England. “I was part of a group of children that I belonged to,” says Joanna. “I think Windermere was an important part of that. I think it was really the first time I was free.”

By January 1946, all the Windermere children had left to build new lives, forming lasting friendships along the way. Montefiore emphasized the importance of independence, urging them to adapt to society. Their stories serve as a vital reminder of the Holocaust and offer hope for future generations, emphasizing the importance of remembrance and resilience.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


Never again


The Man who revealed the Auschwitz atrocities to the world.

On 27 January 1945, Auschwitz prisoners were liberated by soldiers of the First Ukrainian Front. Among those who sought to reveal the camp's atrocities was Witold Pilecki, prisoner number 4859 and a member of the underground resistance group TAP.

In 1940, he intentionally got arrested to infiltrate Auschwitz and spent two and a half years gathering evidence of the horrors within, smuggling reports out detailing the conditions and deaths of prisoners.

Despite his efforts, the Allied Forces largely ignored his findings as Poland was not a military priority. Although Pilecki's testimonies did not lead to immediate liberation, he provided crucial early information about the camp's brutal realities.

After the war, under Soviet rule, Pilecki continued to fight for Polish independence but was arrested and executed in 1948, with his actions largely forgotten for decades. His children, initially told he was a traitor, discovered his true legacy as a hero only in the 1990s. Pilecki's daughter, Zofia, remembers him as a principled man who instilled important values in her.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

Never again.

Auschwitz is primarily recognized as a death camp where over 1.1 million people were murdered. However, the story of Stanislawa Leszczynska, a Polish midwife, reveals its more complex legacy. While interned at the camp, she delivered 3,000 babies under horrific conditions.

Born in Lodz in 1896, Leszczynska initially led a peaceful life but was drawn into resistance work during the Nazi occupation of Poland, helping those in the Jewish ghetto. After her family's efforts were discovered, she was sent to Auschwitz with her daughter.

Assigned to the camp's so-called “maternity ward,” Leszczynska refused to participate in the murder of newborns, which was the norm as many pregnant women faced execution. Instead, she cared for mothers and delivered their babies, often under dire conditions. Leszczynska bravely stood against orders from camp authorities, including the notorious Dr. Josef Mengele.

While some babies were taken for the Nazi Lebensborn program, Leszczynska and her team tried to mark those infants in hopes of reuniting them with their mothers. Though most children did not survive, Leszczynska's actions highlighted her courage and compassion amidst the brutality of Auschwitz.

We thank God for this woman's bravery.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

Never again.

Mindu Hornick, 13, peered through a crack in the door of her stopped cattle car and read a name: Auschwitz.
“I spelt it out for my mother,” Hornick recalled recently. “She says, ‘I don't know where it is, I've never heard of the place.’ And then suddenly all this clatter of the doors opening, and when the doors opened I mean there was, just, all hell let loose.”

They had travelled for days in the dark, 70 women and children packed shoulder to shoulder in a cattle car, with little food and a single sanitation bucket to share. Now they saw piles of rotting bodies, barking dogs, Nazis shouting in German, thick grey ash clotting the air. An official scrambled into their car.

“I think that a kapo must have known that this train of mothers and children—that were no use to them for work—would end up in the gas chambers,” said Hornick. “And that's why he must have looked in that coach and thought to himself, ‘well perhaps I'll try and save a couple.’”

He advised Hornick’s mother to let her two older girls go ahead, while she stayed behind with her younger two sons. You’ll see them soon, he assured her in Yiddish. He told Mindu and her sister to lie about their age and skills. “You are a seamstress,” he told them.

“You better do as this man says,” her mother said. “We looked back and we saw our mother with her spotted scarf, and we waved to her and we went ahead,” Mindu said. She never saw her mother or little brothers again.

Father, forgive.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

There is no apology for the items on this page this week because today commemorates the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz. The history behind these stories must never be forgotten. It does not make for pleasant reading but the truth cannot be avoided.

"Nothing will be easy about returning to Auschwitz, 80 years after I was liberated. This commemoration will be the last of its kind. We will be there. Will you stand with us?" - Michael Bornstein, Auschwitz Survivor

For the world today, Auschwitz is a symbol of the Holocaust and the atrocities of World War II. In 2005 the United Nations declared 27 January as the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The Nazis established Auschwitz in 1940 in the Polish suburbs of Oswiecim, building a complex of camps that became central to Hitler’s pursuit of a “Final Solution to the Jewish question.” Nazis murdered between 1.1 million and 1.5 million people at Auschwitz, including more than one million Jews, but also Roma, homosexuals, political dissidents and more.

As prisoners arrived, young children, the elderly and infirm were separated and immediately sent to take “showers,” which pumped deadly Zyklon-B poison gas into the chambers. Daily mass executions, starvation, disease and torture transformed Auschwitz into one of the most lethal and terrifying concentration camps and extermination centres of World War II.

Children, especially twins, could be selected at any time for barbaric medical experiments conducted without anaesthesia by Nazi Josef Mengele. These included injecting serum directly into children’s eyeballs to study eye colour and injecting chloroform into the hearts of twins to determine if the siblings would die at the same time and in the same way.

In January 1945, Soviet soldiers liberated the camp to find 7,600 emaciated prisoners left behind, heaps of corpses and seven tons of human hair that had been shaved off the prisoners.

Estimates suggest that Nazis murdered 85 per cent of the people sent to Auschwitz.


The Fragility of Freedom
Eternal God, we come before you, conscious of the fragility of freedom, to remember the victims of the Holocaust.
We lament the loss of the six million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust, the millions of other victims of Nazi persecution, and victims of all genocides.
Remembering the past, help us today to use what freedom we have to stand up for those whose freedom is denied.
We pray for a day when all shall be free to live in peace, unity and love. Amen.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

Collect (special prayer) for today:
Almighty God,
whose Son revealed in signs and miracles
the wonder of your saving presence:
renew your people with your heavenly grace,
and in all our weakness
sustain us by your mighty power;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen

Today, we hear Jesus reading in the temple.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

"God has no limits, He is infinite in His ways of expressing love, and humans also have their own ways of expressing love toward Him and others. This is what we need to focus on: differences are not a bad thing, they are a richness!" Br Rami Asakhrie, Latin priest of Bethlehem


Almighty God,
accept our praise and thanksgiving for what already unites Christians
in the confession of and witness to Jesus the Lord.
Strengthen our hearts in expectation and hope
as we work for unity and together seek the harmony of all creation.
Hasten the hour when all churches will recognise each other
in the one communion you willed
and for which your Son prayed to you in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Hear us, you who live and reign now and forever.
Amen.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

Will soon be off to my fourth funeral in two weeks!

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Almighty God,
accept our praise and thanksgiving for what already unites Christians
in the confession of and witness to Jesus the Lord.
Strengthen our hearts in expectation and hope
as we work for unity and together seek the harmony of all creation.
Hasten the hour when all churches will recognise each other
in the one communion you willed
and for which your Son prayed to you in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Hear us, you who live and reign now and forever.
Amen.

Cx :-)