A very busy day with lots of people flocking into the Parish Church for our annual Christmas Fayre which coincides every year with the day the town switches on the Christmas Lights.This morning was bitterly cold but the crowds were not deterred from visiting the town and soon there were hordes of people flocking into church for teas/coffees and mince pies. In fact it was remarked by several people that there were more folk in church than there were in the High Street all through the morning.
Our Lady's image was not without many votive lights all day and the opportunity to meet so many people was as always a joy, except for one person who was extremely rude to one of our helpers.
As usual our stalwart volunteers did very well in making the day a great success. The Restoration Fund benefited by nearly £800 and the Organ Appeal raised almost £400. As well as our own stalls and refreshments we had the local Historical and Archaeological Society Bookstall, a stall for Kidney Research and, my personal favourite, a model railway exhibition. It was good to be able to encourage support of these other organisations too. There was live music all day with our very own Church Band playing this morning, our organist, Andrew Storer giving a recital over lunch and then a quartet of young ladies playing stringed instruments this afternoon and raising awareness of a local scheme to teach classical music playing to children in Ghana.
The town as usual was packed and many, many people worked very hard to make the day a great success. The High Street and the Market Square were closed to traffic and the Lantern Parade by children with their own creations was as marvellous as ever. Roasted Chestnuts, fairground rides, the Mummers, Morris Dancing, Live Music and much, much more all building up to the actual switching on of the lights at about 5:00pm. As I said in an earlier post "no one does Christmas Lights like Stony Stratford" and it's worth a visit between now and Twelfth Night to see them.
And when it was all over and the Parish Church had been returned to normal, the Advent colours had replaced the green and everything was clam and ready for Sunday Mass our Organist and I were able to say Vespers in wonderful peace. That for me is the best part of the whole day each year on this day. There is something quite remarkable about saying Vespers after all that activity in a church building which then resonates with peace and calm.
Tomorrow brings the start of a New Year and the children lighting the first candle on the Advent Wreath and the adults getting all embarrassed when I ask them which group of people the first candle represents. For the first eight years they forgot every year. Last year they had done their homework beforehand as I had intimated that rather than asking the whole of the gathered Faithful a question an individual might be asked... I wonder what will be the case tomorrow?
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