Rosedale
Abbey

Dear friends,

Tomorrow we celebrate Candlemas – the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, at

9.15 am Hutton (Revd Christine)

9.15 am Rosedale (me)

10.45 am Lastingham (me).

In addition we will be remembering that this is Holocaust Memorial Week, so we will be having a quiet space towards the end of the service at Lastingham so that we can light candles while Maddy plays quiet music.

Please feel welcome to attend any service.

The Festival of Candlemas has a very ancient tradition. Look, for instance, at Candlemas on Wikipedia.

We celebrate the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, while his mother Mary offers a purification offering. The later service of Churching of Women still in the Prayer Book relates to this, but is very little practised today, at least in Britain. Revd Christine has only once been involved in such a service, and I, never.

Also, people in Anglican tradition would bring candles to church on this day to be blessed, and in the Middle Ages made offerings  of candles to the church for its use throughout the year.

Finally – although there is lots more about Candlemas on the web – while some people take down Christmas decorations on Twelfth Night, they are often left up until Candlemas. Since the Wise Men only arrive in our cribs and Nativity sets (strictly) at Epiphany, taking them away six days later hardly gives us a chance to enjoy them, so that’s another reason to leave decorations in place until February 2^nd1

With prayers and blessings,

Revd David

The coffee morning in aid of the Rosedale Football Club held at the Coach House Inn this morning raised the excellent sum of £399 – well done to all who contributed, to those who donated raffle prizes and to the Coach House team for hosting.

Lastingham Benefice church service pattern for January 2025.

Times and service types may change a little after discussion at our next churchwardens’ meeting. Any changes will be well advertised.

All services are Holy Communion, with the exception of Evening Prayer/Evensong at Cropton once a month. This is held at 3.00 pm in winter months (GMT) and 6.00 pm in the summer (BST).

The Holy Communion services follow Common Worship Oder One (Modern) liturgy, except for Hutton which follows the Book of Common Prayer (BCP). The Lastingham 2nd Wednesday is usually BCP Holy Communion, and Evening Prayer at Cropton is usually BCP.

A blank cell in the table below indicates no service at that church on that Sunday.

Please get in touch if you have any queries.

Revd David Haddon-Reece

01751 417401

For details of services in the five parishes of the Benefice see the calendar at the following link – https://www.lastinghamparishchurch.org.uk/calendar/

There will be a Midnight Mass in St Lawrence Church, Rosedale Abbey on Christmas Eve at 10.00pm – all are very welcome to attend and celebrate the arrival of the Christ Child together.

Around 45 stalwart locals and visitors gathered on the village green on a cold, drizzly evening to sing carols and enjoy hot mulled cider and mince pies, all in aid of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. Just over £280 was raised for this very important charity (afternote: the amount now stands at £311.40), a sum which exceeds last year’s donations so well done to all.

As ever, heartfelt thanks to all who so generously contributed to the charity, also to Craig and Nicola from Abbey Stores who helped set up the location and to James from Graze on The Green for his outstanding mince pies. We hope the weather next year will be better and with it an even higher donation to the Air Ambulance, a vital emergency service for a remote rural community like Rosedale.

In the meantime a very Happy Christmas and, God willing, a Peaceful New Year to all our viewers, regular and occasional, on this site.

There will be a carol service in the church this Wednesday 18th December at 6.30pm with mulled wine and mince pies to follow.

All residents and visitors, young and old, are most welcome

The annual wool gather took place on Thursday morning with farmers from around Rosedale and Hartoft bringing in their wool sacks for collection by British Wool.

Father Christmas paid his customary visit to Rosedale on Wednesday evening where he was welcomed by an enthusiastic crowd of local children.

The Ryedale Lions who escort Father Christmas around the villages and dales hope to collect around £10,000 for charitable causes this Christmas, so if you see the red suited one around elsewhere don’t forget to drop a few coins in the collecting jar. Happy Christmas!