Author: Leigh Hatts

Leigh Hatts is the author of 'Keeping Advent and Christmas' and 'Keeping Lent and Easter' (DLT).
Updates

St David’s Day

The first day of March is St David’s Day. David is the only patron saint in the British Isles to be born in his own country. So the focus is on St David’s Cathedral in his home city of St Davids. There is no snow there but it is very cold  -about -2deg C. This […]

Leigh Hatts 
Updates

Family Fast Day

CAFOD Family Fast Day is on Friday 23 February. Over the past sixty years this has become part of Lent for many. The idea is to give up the day’s main meal, by just having maybe soup, and send the cost to CAFOD. CAFOD is the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development working alongside Christian Aid. […]

Leigh Hatts 
Updates

First Sunday of Lent

The first of the six Sundays of Lent is this weekend. Church is a little plain from this Sunday. There are no flowers or Gloria. Vestments are purple. You might hear the haunting Lent Prose which is derived from the Mozarabic breviary. This comes between the readings with the theme of water and baptism,  which […]

Leigh Hatts 
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Ash Wednesday fish

  This morning the people of Ivrea, near Turin, are recovering from spending the last few days throwing oranges at each other. Ivrea carnival is unusual. The split and squashed fruit is now lying mushy in the streets which  have a smell reminiscent of marmalade. But the main square is already hosed down and chefs, […]

Leigh Hatts 
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St Valentine’s Day cancelled

This year you will not find St Valentine in the Church calendar. Wednesday 14 February is Ash Wednesday which takes precedence. It’s 73 years since these two days clashed. As the Second World War drew to  a close there was little mention of St Valentine’s Day. Should we decline to give chocolates and refuse flowers? […]

Leigh Hatts 
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Fat Thursday doughnuts

Here is an early reminder that Lent starts next week. It’s Fat Thursday in Poland today when doughnuts are eaten all over the country. There are always debates over which shop is selling the best. The doughnut top is either dusted in sugar or covered in icing. The traditional filling is rose jam. Look out […]

Leigh Hatts 
Updates

Candlemas at Ripon

Candlemas at Yorkshire’s Ripon Cathedral is always dramatic. On Friday night there were around 4000 candles. Lighting them started at about 5.45pm in order to have every one lit by the start of the Choral Eucharist at 7.30pm. Ripon has a tradition of decorating every ledge with a light and even creating patterns and pictures […]

Leigh Hatts 
3d book display image of Keeping Advent & Christmas

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