Pew Sheet – 3rd January 2021

The Rector writes    ’Although today is still officially ‘Christmas’ , it is  the feast of the Epiphany on 6th, this  Wednesday.   Unfortunately we won’t be physically in our churches to remember the resilience of those wise men who travelled from afar, to sing ‘We Three Kings’, and to  smell the Frankincense and Myrrh.  But this year, if you would like to make,  as a symbol of hope,  the traditional Epiphany chalk marks on your own hall doors,  you can just write  ‘20 + C + M + B + 21’  above the door.  This symbolises 2021 for the year; and the C, M, B stands for the 3 Magi (Casper, Melchior, and Balthasar)    and for  Christus Mansionem Benedicat,  which is the Latin for “May Christ Bless this House.”

As you are writing, you can pray the following :

May all who come to our home this year rejoice to find Christ living among us; and may we seek and serve, in everyone we meet, that same Jesus who is Lord, forever and ever. Amen.’

Our ‘Giving’ Christmas tree is filling up nicely in St Mary’s Church.

The idea behind this tree is that we put gifts for others on the shelves over these 12 days of Christmas and then after Epiphany, the Rector will divide up the gifts and distribute to the four local charities that we support throughout the year.

This year, as the churches are closed, if you’d like to drop any gifts for the Giving Tree to the Rectory, the Porch is always open, just leave the gift in the porch and the dogs will always let the Rector know that there is something there!

Cork Penny Dinners : Dried food, cleaning substances etc  

Cuan Lee Women’s Refuge : Children’s Pyjamas, Women’s cosmetics and sanitary products 

Cork Simon Community : Men and Women’s hats, socks, scarves, gloves, outer wear, wet weather wear 

Kinsale Road Direct Provision Centre : Women’s sanitary products, school items, Pyjamas

Thank you for your generosity!

Unfortunately under current COVID-19

Restrictions, all items must be new.

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Random Notes  CCCLXXI

It isn’t often that someone is rewarded for being cheeky, but that’s exactly what happened in Buckingham Palace in 1905.

The story began when a painting, which had been ordered for the Palace from a nearby art gallery , was delivered by a porter. He was shown into Edward VII’s study and left alone to unwrap the picture.

It took just ten minutes to remove the wrapping but by then the official who had led him in had forgotten about him and he was left there.

Growing bored after a long wait, the porter sat down at the King’s desk, where he saw a mass of writing paper. Each sheet had the words Buckingham Palace emblazoned across the top.

He took a sheet of paper, and to pass the time, began to write a letter.   He had written just one sentence when the King himself walked into the room. The mortified porter jumped to his feet and apologised profusely. His curiosity roused, King Edward went over to see what the porter had written. Having a lively sense of humour, the King was so pleased with what he read that he burst out laughing and gave the porter a guinea, which was a good deal of money back then, and showed him the door.

The king enjoyed the joke so much that he told the story at dinner parties for the rest of his life.

The porter had written,

“Dear Dad, please note the change of address.!”

MMPC