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11TH & 18TH DECEMBER 2016

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MAGNIFICAT Vicar’s Blog

Let me confess something that probably won’t shock you even a tiny bit. As a young lad I was quite a wellbehaved choirboy who normally did his homework and his piano practice.

(The fact that my piano teacher Mrs. Wilde hit me with a pencil on the hand every time I made a mistake certainly encouraged my diligence in the latter.) Choir practice was, and remains, important to me, and the singing of Evensong every Sunday at 6.30pm was part of my formative early days as a Christian. Three things came a little later.

First, it took me some time to realise that the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis that we sang each Sunday at Choral Evensong were actually drawn from the Bible. Magnificat, the Latin for magnify, from the Song of Mary found in Luke 1:46-55; and Nunc Dimittis, the Latin from now dismiss, from the Song of Simeon in Luke

2:29-32. I don’t know if you ever play the game of picking your favourite Bible text, but these two, with the Lord’s Prayer, would be up there for me, and have probably sustained me spiritually far more than I will ever know. I am grateful to St. Luke.

The second thing I realised was that these are actually Christmas texts, texts of the incarnation. The virgin has recently conceived in the former, and she is with Simeon, Joseph and her 40-day-old son in the latter.

And the third thing I noticed was this, what astonishing people of faith both Mary and Simeon are. Simeon I get to preach on at the end of January, and I also get to watch him holding up the infant Christ in The Malmesbury Nativity very shortly. I love Simeon, and I am grateful for the way Jake Drake portrays him each year; worth the £2.50 ticket price on its own.

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A B B E Y D I A RY Sunday 11th December 9am BCP Communion 10.30am Holy Communion Preacher: Bishop Mike 4pm Informal Worship & Junior Church

Mary is heroic. An immense woman of faith who was blessed to know Jesus both as her son and her Saviour. If we find the saving presence of Christ in our world and in our lives to be a profound mystery, how much more so for Mary? She watched him grow in her womb, she held him as a new born, and then she saw him run around as a young boy; a breathtaking collision of the human and the divine right in front of her eyes. And it is her words that reveal the wonder she knew, and we recover each Christmas:

My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit doth rejoice in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble and meek.

THIS WEEK EACH DAY 9am Morning Prayer MON 12th 10am Little Stars 6.30pm Hullavington School Christmas th WED 14 10.30am Communion THUR 15th 10.30am Time for Chat 6.45pm Choir Practice SAT 17th 4pm Choir Rehearsal 6.30pm Nine Lessons & Carols (I) Sunday 18th December 9am BCP Communion 10.30am Holy Communion 3pm Puppet Nativity 6.30pm Nine Lessons & Carols (II)

Christmas Eve 11.30pm Midnight Communion Christmas Day 9am Holy Communion 11am Family Celebration

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ISAIAH 35:1-10 The Third Sunday of Advent

The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendour of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendour of our God. 3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.’

D A I LY R E A D I N G S Monday 12th Psalm 40 Isaiah 49:14-25 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 Tuesday 13th Psalm 70 Isaiah 50 1 Thessalonians 5:12-end Wednesday 14th Psalm 75 Isaiah 51:1-8 2 Thessalonians1

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Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. 7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow. 8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not

go about on it. 9 No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, 10 and those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Additional Reading: Matthew 11:2-11

ISAIAH 7:10-16 The Fourth Sunday of Advent

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, 11 ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.’ 12 But Ahaz said, ‘I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.’

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Then Isaiah said, ‘Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also?

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Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. 15 He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, 16 for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.

Additional Reading: Matthew 1:18-25

D A I LY R E A D I N G S Thursday 15th Psalm 76 Isaiah 51:9-16 2 Thessalonians 2 Friday 16th Psalm 98 Isaiah 51:17-end 2 Thessalonians 3 Monday 19th Psalm 146 Isaiah 52:13-53:end 2 Peter 1:1-15 Tuesday 20th Psalm 46 Isaiah 54 2 Peter 1:16-2:3 Wednesday 21st Psalm 121 Isaiah 55 2 Peter 2:4-end Thursday 22nd Psalm 124 Isaiah 56:1-8 2 Peter 3 Friday 23rd Psalm 130 Isaiah 63:1-6 2 John

ABBEY CLO SUR E

NINE LESSONS

Malmesbury Abbey is closed from 1pm on Christmas Day right through until January 3rd 2017, except for our New Year’s Day Holy Communion (see below.)

Free tickets are still available for both our candlelit services of Nine Lessons & Carols at 6.30pm on December 17th & 18th. However there are only a small number left for our Sunday night service, which will be very full. You are advised to come to the Saturday night service if possible and pick up tickets in advance. And please arrive early for the best seats.

The Abbey Kitchen closes on December 17th, the Abbey Bookshop is closing at 12 noon on Christmas Eve, and the Parish Office also closes on Christmas Eve. All reopen for business on Tuesday January 3rd.

N E W Y E A R ’ S D AY Revd Roy Farrar will be leading a service of Holy Communion at the Abbey at 11am on New Year’s Day. This is our one service in the Malmesbury & Upper Avon Group, and there will be no services at 9am, 4pm or in the villages.

EMERGENCIES Due to staff holidays, if over the Christmas and New Year period you have a pastoral emergency, please contact the Revd Peter Yacomeni on 01666 826628.

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NOTICEBOARD ABBEY GUILD Abbey Guild will be meeting on Tuesday 13th December at 2pm in The King’s Church, Abbey Row. Annette Bains will be with us as we have Christmas Fun and Games. Everyone is very welcome to join us.

After many years of fruitful ministry the Abbey Guild has prayerfully decided to close. This step will be a loss to many as the Guild has been such a blessing. The Vicar & Churchwardens would like to thank all those who have been involved over the years, particularly Helen Small who has been overseeing things recently with such faithfulness and love.

JANET BAR TON With great sadness we announce that Janet Barton passed away peacefully at her home in Malmesbury on the morning of Friday 9th December. Janet served for many years in the life of the Abbey, particularly in the PCC, the Abbey Choir, Malmesbury Abbey Music Society and the Abbey Magazine.

Please pray for David and her family in their tremendous loss.

May she rest in peace.

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ABBEY AD VENT & CH RISTMAS D IARY 20 16

Sun 11th Dec

Wed 14th Dec Sat 17th Dec Sun 18th Dec

Fri 23rd Dec

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ADVENT III 9am & 10.30am Holy Communion 4pm Informal Worship & Junior Church 7.30pm Malmesbury School Carol Service 6.30pm Nine Lessons & Carols by Candlelight 1 ADVENT IV 9am & 10.30am Holy Communion 3pm The Puppet Nativity for younger children 6.30pm Nine Lessons & Carols by Candlelight 2 7pm The Malmesbury Nativity

Sat 24th Dec

CHRISTMAS EVE 2pm, 4pm & 6pm The Malmesbury Nativity 11.30pm Midnight Communion (Carols from 11.15pm)

Sun 25th Dec

CHRISTMAS DAY 9am Holy Communion 11am Family Celebration 12 noon Champagne (bring a bottle)

Sun 1st Jan

11am Holy Communion