Advent 25 – 25 December 2021
Merry Christmas! It is the day of celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. And it is the final day of this year’s Advent Calendar. The theme has been St Andrews, reflecting that so much of the past couple of years…
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Advent 24 – 24 December 2021
Good morning, on Christmas Eve. In many cultures, this is the day for the family’s Christmas meal, and for opening presents. This is the final day of traditional advent calendars – I well remember from childhood the…
Advent 23 – 23 December 2022
Good morning, We are putting the final touches together for tomorrow’s services of Carols by Candlelight. Usually that candlelight is in St Leonard’s Chapel, but this year we have moved the services to St Salvator’s…
Advent 22 – 22 December 2021
Good morning, Behind today’s window are some meditations from King Creosote. Kenny Anderson, as he is also known, was brought up in St Andrews, attended Madras College, and lives in the east Neuk. He has released more…
Advent 21 – 21 December 2021
Greetings, Today is the Winter Solstice, the day with the least daylight in the year, and the longest night, the longest time of darkness. For much of human history, this feature of our planetary life has led to…
Advent 20 – 20 December 2021
Good morning, With just a few days before Christmas, we turn now to celebrations of the festival. Scotland was profoundly affected by the Reformation, which took hold of the nation in 1560 and dominated culture until…
Advent 19 – 19 December 2021
Good morning, on this, the fourth Sunday of Advent. A fourth candle will be lit on advent wreaths, and church services will see nativity plays, with youthful sheep and shepherds, kings and angels, Marys and Josephs, if…
Advent 18 – 18 December 2021
Good morning, We open today’s window in our St Andrews-themed Advent Calendar just a week before Christmas. Christmas carols are in the air. They are piped in Tesco and Morrisons, though there’s more Santa Baby than…
Advent 17 – 17 December 2021
Good morning, We turn today to one of the most significant stories in the infancy narratives of Jesus – the adoration of the Magi. These were the astrologers, or wise men, from the East who observed a star rising,…
Advent 16 – 16 December 2021
Good morning, A final window today on the shepherds and angels. Here is an angel in St Salvator’s Chapel, playing bagpipes, looking down from the night-sky, perhaps a particularly Scottish member of the heavenly host…