NEWS
The Christmas card tree in the side chapel is for those who wish to place on it a Christmas greeting to the whole church family, rather than sending individual cards. If you would like to make a charitable donation with the money thus saved, please use the box provided and the proceeds will be forwarded to WaterAid. Many thanks to Sarah Jane for organising this.
After morning service on Sunday 10th December Sarah Jane was presented with a Christmas hamper by the PCC as a mark of its appreciation for the considerable initiative, effort and perseverance she has shown over the last two and a half years raising funds through the sale of the Learners’ legacy teddy bears. Sarah Jane added her thanks to Doreen Springall and Amy Hogan for their help in manning sales stalls at various events. There are now just 33 bears left from the original 1,300 and the cumulative total of legacy bear sales now stands at £3,108.00, which is a remarkable achievement. This money is to be spent on modernising and improving the church lighting: an appropriate use of these funds since it was Mike Learner who installed the electrics during the post-fire restoration work of 1979-1982.
Many thanks to those who contributed items for the Christmas hamper, and to Jean Cooksley who made the Christmas cake. Both are to be raffled after the Service of Carols and Readings.
Sunday collections in November amounted to £1,231.00. The sales table organised by Chris Bardsley raised a record-breaking £285.00, largely as a result of her highly desirable and beautiful festive greeting cards.
Barsham PCC acknowledges with deep gratitude a very generous donation of £1,000.00. Many thanks also to Beccles Lions for funding the cost of love box carriage, which amounted to £429.00.
Thank you for the144 items donated to the Foodbank in November, as always fully appreciated by the Revd Pam Bayliss and her team.
As the calendar year comes to an end and a new one begins, the PCC would like to thankeveryone who has contributed to the life of our church through the year: in worship, at special events, in the upkeep and beautification of the church and churchyard, and in the support of charitable causes.
By the same token, we should also acknowledge the commitment shown by members of the PCC in the essential and varied tasks that keep the church functioning.
Best wishes for Christmas and a happy New Year!
FORWARD PLANNING
The Service of Carols & Readings will be on Thursday 21st December at 6.30pm.Mulled wine, mince pies and sausage rolls will be served after the service.
The Revd Canon Philip Banks, Canon Precentor at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, will be our visiting celebrant and preacher at morning service on Sunday 24th December.
There will be a service of Sung Eucharist at 10.30am on Christmas Day (no refreshments after the service).
There will be no Wednesday morning services of Matins throughout the cold months of January and February.
SNIPPETS – Christmas 1909 and the Madonna Sewing
The large painting of the Madonna Sewing in the side chapel (photo, front cover) is eye-catching and frequently attracts the attention of visitors. It was a gift to the church from Colonel William Churchman (later Colonel Sir William Churchman, 1st Baronet, JP, DL) on Christmas Day 1909. Colonel Churchman spent most of his life in the Ipswich area and was Mayor of Ipswich in 1899/1900, but he lived for a brief period in Barsham as tenant of Ashmans Hall. He was a partner with his brother in the family tobacco firm of W A & A C Churchman, with branches in Ipswich and Norwich. In 1896 in the early days of ‘white cigarettes’, the firm installed one of the first cigarette-making machines, which could produce 20,000 cigarettes an hour, and Churchman’s No.1 became one of the most famous brands of the day.
The side chapel was built in 1908, replacing an earlier one that had been demolished in 1785, and the Madonna Sewing was one of several gifts made at the time to furnish and beautify the new chapel.
Thought to be early 19th century, the painting gifted by Colonel Churchman is a copy of a 17th century fresco in the Chapel of the Annunciation at the Quirinale Palace in Rome. It is the same size as the original, which is one part of a series of frescos around the walls of the chapel, depicting episodes in the life of the Virgin Mary, starting with the Archangel Gabriel’s announcement to her father Joachim, finishing with the Virgin meeting God the Father in heaven and featuring an altar piece portraying the Annunciation. The Chapel was built on the orders of Pope Paul V, who employed Guido Reni, one of the great masters of the time, to paint the frescos in 1610. The Chapel was dedicated to the devotion of the Virgin Mary. It
was Paul V’s private – and secret – chapel, hidden behind a mirrored door in the Tapestries Room of the Quirinale, but was nonetheless one of the great repositories of artistic treasures of the age.
The painting portrays a largely domestic scene, though the arches at top right (now only dimly visible) hint at a temple and Mary’s faith, and the two angels helping her in her sewing task point to her connection with God. The meaning of the scene is clarified by the inscriptions on the scrolls, which are in Italian on the original fresco in Rome, but in Latin on the Barsham copy. The first scroll translates as, ‘He who calls her, called her from the beginning’ and refers to the divine plan of predestination for Mary as the Mother of Christ. The second scroll quotes part of a verse from Isaiah and refers to Mary’s Immaculate Conception: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son’.
Originally a papal palace, the Quirinale later became the residence of the King of Italy, and since 1946 it has been the official residence of the President of the Italian Republic. These days it is open to the public and it is possible to visit the chapel.
January Diary
Sunday 31st December – First Sunday after Christmas. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Josh Bailey.
Sunday 7th January – First Sunday of Epiphany. Baptism of Christ. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Jonathan Olanczuk.
Sunday 14th January – Second Sunday of Epiphany. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Canon John Fellows.
Sunday 21st January – Third Sunday of Epiphany. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Josh Bailey.
Sunday 28th January – Candlemas. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). Revd Josh Bailey.
Sunday 4th February – Second Sunday before Lent. 11am Sung Eucharist (BCP). RevdJonathan Olanczuk.
No Service of Matins on Wednesday mornings in January and February.
Church correspondent: Robert Bacon 07867 306016, [email protected]