Seeker

When did Christianity first come to Britain? Certainly not with the missionary monk St Augustine of Canterbury. In the Church of England it is his day today - more of Augustine, 1st Archbishop of Canterbury in a moment. Pictured in this stained glass with blond hair and pale complexion, Augustine looks more like an Anglo-Saxon than the Italian born immigrant that he was.  There are medieval traditions (and legends) of Christians in Roman Briton in the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D. There is good evidence that by the 3rd and 4th centuries there were churches and bishops in the British Isles. Augustine of Canterbury (not to be confused with Augustine of Hippo ) was certainly not the first Christian missionary in this small corner of northern Europe. On the old Roman Road from Dover to London was an ancient Celtic town on the River Stour which the Romans developed into the walled city of Canterbury as a centre for Roman regional government. At the time when Pope Gregory sent a g...

Would it have been a disaster if our 4 year old son had blown out the candles? Probably not. We could have re-lit them. It could have been embarrassing though. We were visiting Clifton Cathedral (Catholic), in Bristol. Thankfully for us the building was more or less empty at the time. Our younger son, standing in front of a stand holding a ring of votive candles alight with flames thought 'birthday cake candles'. He filled his little lungs with air ready to make an enormous effort to blow the candles out. I grabbed and diverted him just in time. The candles stayed lit. So, what has that memory got to do with the Feast of Pentecost? 3 things: In that same Cathedral is the beautiful stained glass window by Henry Haig entitled 'Pentecost', symbolising the event recounted in Acts 2: 1 - 11 . I love it!  There is also another window by the same artist called 'Jubilation', symbolizing the joy of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost ('Whit Sunday')...

Reflection for Ascension Day Christ of two worlds, earth and heaven, now and not yet, not here and now here. Christ of two dimensions, exalted and  embracing, lifted beyond yet present here. Christ of cross and resurrection, arms stretched out to bear our pain and lifted up to bless. Christ risen and ascended, above us and amongst us leaving and returning carry us and bless us. Image Credit: Not sure who to credit. Found here. Other posts for Ascension Ascension Day: music and paintings for reflection Ascension Day 2012 Ascension Day Dangerous Ascension Day