Could it Already be Stir Up Sunday?

The Anglican in this Anglo-Catholic cannot resist pointing out that today is Stir Up Sunday.  Although often more associated with the stirring up of the Christmas pudding, the day is more correctly associated with the beginning of the traditional Book of Common Prayer collect for the day:

Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

.Excita, quaesumus, Domine, tuorum fidelium voluntates: ut divini operis fructum propensius exsequentes, pietatis tuae remedia maiora percipiant: Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

By Jay Springett from London [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

As linguistic convenience would have it, this final Sunday before Advent is also the traditional day for making the Christmas pudding, allowing it plenty of time to arrive at a perfect state for consumption on Christmas day. Christmas puddings require plenty of stirring --East to West, foreshadowing the travel of the magi, -- and the whole family participated.  As each family member gave the pudding a stir, he or she made a secret wish.  Some families baked a coin, and possibly other tokens, into the pudding which brought the finder good luck or predictions for the coming church year.  For instance, the young single person who found the ring in the pudding might expect marriage on the horizon.

The children often chanted a rhyme on the way home from mass on this day:

Stir up, we beseech thee, the pudding in the pot; and when we get home, we'll eat the lot!

Feeling adventurous?  Here is more on Christmas puddings.

And so, the church year comes to a close..and another stands poised to dawn.  Many exciting things are coming this Advent, friends.  For now though, let us revel in the Kingship of our Lord, and in the silver tokens of promise that may hide in our own Stir Up Sunday pudding.

Pax Christi dear ones!
~Michelle