Look, we try to hold a lot of traditions in balance here at the Beaker Folk. And I'm aware that with the multiplicity of overlapping and mutually enhancing festivals at this time of year, it can be confusing.
And the "All Saints / Halloween" melange of Occasions yesterday was a bit of a disaster. People dressed up as martyrs getting mixed up with those dressed as pumpkins, witches, vampires and Nadine Dorries. Unless, of course, that was just our local MP dropping by to join in the fun. Still, scariest costume by a mile either way.
So to help everyone out after that here's a quick ready reckoner of this week's dates, and what the weekend should have been:
Sat 30th: Halloween (transferred from Sunday)
Sun 31st: All Saints Sunday
Mon 1st: All Souls' Eve
Tue 2nd (am): All Saints (transferred from Monday, transferred from Sunday)
Tue 2nd (pm): All Souls
Wed 3rd: Halloween (Matinee)
Thu 4th: Samhain (transferred from Sunday due to clash with Halloween, which was held on Saturday)
Fri 5th: Bonfire Night
Sat 6th: 4th Sunday before Advent
Sun 7th: 1st Sunday after Bonfire Night
I hope that sorts everything out.
We transferred All Hallows to Saturday and commemorated it on Noon that day. We transferred All Saints (Our Patronal Feast) to Sunday and the Bishop came for our Annual (apart from pandemics) Confirmation Service. We had a pent up need as the Vicar's arm was getting overused blessing potential comfirmits. In the end, 10 Adults and Young People were presented and confirmed. So the Vicars blessing arm will be rested - but wait we have had three new families who've just had their children baptized and the parents (all vague Christians) are considering whether they want to be confirmed next time around - they noted the cake and balloons and bring and share afterwards. Bring and Share is a prominent attraction and given the diversity of our congregation enjoys a reputation for home catering in the deanery, second to none. If you can't get them through the door on a Sunday, offer good nosh and even fair trade coffee, and you are onto a winner.
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