BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//achurchnearyou.com//eventfeed//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-TIMEZONE:UTC BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pews News 2 February 2025 DTSTART:20250130T003000Z DTEND:20250206T011500Z DTSTAMP:20260429T032614Z UID:11526422025-01-30 00:30:00+00:00achurchnearyou CATEGORIES: DESCRIPTION:Bowland Benefice\nPews News 2 February 2025\nPresentation of C hrist in the Temple\nalso known as Candlemas\n\nCollect\nAlmighty and ever -living God\,\nclothed in majesty\,\n\nwhose beloved Son was this day pres ented\n\nin the Temple\,\nin substance of our flesh:\ngrant that we may be presented to you\nwith pure and clean hearts\,\nby your Son Jesus Christ our Lord\,\nwho is alive and reigns with you\,\nin the unity of the Holy S pirit\,\none God\, now and for ever. Amen.\nThis week in the Benefice\n\nS unday\n2 February\n\n10.30am\n\nFamily Service\nin Upton\nSnodsbury\n\n11. 00am\n\nHoly\nCommunion\nIn Peopleton\n\n6.00pm\n\nSongs of Praise\nin Whi te Ladies\nAston\n\nFriday\n7 February\n\n7.30pm\n\nFilm Night in\nThe Par ish\nRoom\, White\nLadies Aston\n\nSaturday\n8 February\n\n10.30am\n\nCoff ee\nMorning in the\nParish Room\,\nWLA\n\nSunday\n9 February\n4 th Sunday\ nbefore Lent\n\n10.30am\n\nHoly\nCommunion in\nUpton\nSnodsbury\n\n10.30am \n\nFamily Service\nin White Ladies\nAston\nEveryone will be made very wel come in The Parish\nRoom in White Ladies Aston on Friday night for the\nfi lm Roman Holiday. A fun film for a February evening\n\nwith ice cream incl uded!\nA Prayer for Candlemas\nHeavenly Father\,\nin a world full of darkn ess and fear\,\nyour Son is a beacon and the light of the world.\nWe pray for his light to shine strongly\nand for darkness to disappear.\nIn our jo bs\, careers\, education\, business\, and family\,\nlet his light shine an d the darkness disappear.\nYour glory shall rise upon us and all our doing s today.\n\nAmen.\n\nSo what is Candlemas all about?\nCandlemas is celebra ted on 2 February and finds some\nof its roots in our pagan past. The paga n Festival of\nLight has been incorporated into the remembrance of\nthe ba by Jesus’ ritual presentation to God in the\nTemple. This takes place on the 40 th day of the\nChristmas/Epiphany Season.\n\nJesus was cradled by Simeon in the temple and called\nthe Light of the World and\, having seen Jesus\, Simeon\nthen prepared for death by reciting the Nunc Dimittis\,\nw hich begins now lettest thou thy servant depart in\npeace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen\n\nthy salvation…\n\nThis ‘Song of Simeo n’ is still a very meaningful part of\nthe traditional Anglican Service of Evensong.\nLuke portrays Simeon as a devout and righteous man\nwaiting in Jerusalem\, longing expectantly for the\nScripture’s fulfilment as fo retold in by the Isaiah.\nCandlemas also marks the Purification of the Ble ssed\nVirgin Mary. This is an ancient tradition when women\nhave to be ‘ purified’ before they are allowed\, after\ngiving birth\, to take part i n religious services again.\nThis tradition was upheld in Christian church es\,\ncertainly up until my Mother’s generation.\nIn the Church of Engla nd\, women were "\;churched"\;\nafter giving birth as a ritual of purification and\nthanksgiving to God for the safe delivery of their chil d.\nAlso\, whereas\, in our tradition Christmas decorations\nare taken dow n before 12 th Night (eve of the Feast of\nthe Epiphany)\, in other tradit ions\, they are removed\n\nat Candlemas.\n\nIt was the custom too\, in for mer times\, to take\ncandles to church at Candlemas to have them blessed\n before they were used throughout the rest of the\n\nyear.\nReport from Rev d Claire\n\nOur first Café Church at St Nicholas Church\, Peopleton\n\nwa s a great success last week.\nThank you to our churchwarden Shirley and to the\nrest of the PCC for their help in putting on an excellent\ndisplay o f pastries and refreshments.  \nCommunity is at the heart of our church a nd it was\ngood to see so many of you there.  Hopefully\, those\nof you w ho don'\;t often come to church felt\nwelcomed and at home - it is afte r all your church.\n We heard some unexpected music\, sang a modern\nwors hip song\, thought about and discussed our faith\nand what prayer is\, all in an informal setting.  \nWe will be doing this again - keep your eyes open for\nCafe Church posters and for notices in the Pews News.\n The Lig ht of God surrounds me\,\nThe Love of God enfolds me\,\nThe Power of God p rotects me\,\nThe Presence of God watches over me\,\nWherever I am – GOD IS. GEO:-2.092194;52.151631 LOCATION:St Nicholas\, Peopleton URL:https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/18658/service-and-events/events/ 1152642/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR