I was away for a few days this week visiting a friend in Suffolk. One of the things we did was to visit the ancient church in Grundisburgh where a very busy Crib (Nativity) Festival had been running all week – over 1400 people had come through the church doors! On Monday, after most of the crib scenes had been taken down, there was a talk by Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury. He talked about Jesus’ mother, Mary. Bishop Rowan talked for 40 minutes without notes and the talk was very captiviating. You can hear it here: https://www.grundisburghnews.org.uk/rowanwilliams.html
You can read more about St. Mary’s Grundisburgh with its wonderful ‘angel roof’ and the pretty village in which it sits here: https://www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/grundisburgh.html
There were a few items still visible from the crib festival including two beautiful mosaics made from recycled Christmas cards: maybe we will be able to try something similar when we hold our own Nativity Festival Next Year.
I also spent time painting the Santons I made earlier in the Summer – here’s what they look like. Santons are a Provençal tradition. Originally made of bread, Santons (little saints) bring the stories of ordinary people into the Nativity. In their flawed homely homage, Santons express the sanctification of everyday life in the welcome of a community to the Christ Child.
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