Sunday 25 November 2007

Stir Up Sunday

This Book of Common Prayer
belonged to MissM's Great-Great Aunt.

It was given to her at her confirmation in March 1918.
She was 16.

Her cousin had been killed in France only six months before
and she would have known that
her only brother was due to be called up.
It is not surprising that a hymn for use in time of war
is glued onto the front page.

Only one in ten women of her generation married.
She did not.
She was one of that multitude of women
who had to make their own way in the world.

I am not a curious person
and it has never occurred to me to look inside the little pocket.
I find to my surprise that it still contains pennies,
probably for the collection.

It seems appropriate.
She was a very generous woman.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a treasure you have! And while I knew that a horrific number of young men were killed in the first WW war, I had no idea of the enormous significance on the marriage possibilities for the women. Life changing in so many ways.

blackbird said...

Such a thing...

RW said...

a good pause for thought.

the mother of this lot said...

What a touching post. I found this about 'Stir Up Sunday':

On the First Sunday of Advent, the traditional opening prayer (or Collect) prayed: "Stir up Thy might, we beg Thee, and come." With this request to God to "stir up" His might, this day was traditionally called Stir-Up Sunday. Many families create a traditional plum pudding or fruit cake or some other recipe that all the family and guests can "stir-up." This activity of stirring-up the ingredients symbolizes our hearts that must be stirred in preparation for Christ's birth.

dottycookie said...

What a lovely remembrance; I was curious about the pocket as soon as I saw the photo - so I'm glad you revealed the treasure.

We had half a plan to stick to tradition and make our Christmas pudding today, but it hasn't happened for one reason and another. One year when we did get it done in time we didn't wrap it properly and opened it to find mould on Christmas Day which is a good excuse to leave it till the last minute ...

Mary said...

Yes I was curious about the pocket straight away too ..
and glad you shared its content with us.

That is a treasure...

alice c said...

Welcome Jackie,
Many families do mix their Christmas pudding on thin Sunday. But not here at ChezMagpie. Our family tradition is to go down to M&S and decide which one to buy. It is highly technical and my mother taught me all she knew about this difficult skill.

Anonymous said...

Just to put this date in its historical context the Germans launched their spring offensive the following day on 21st March 1918

Anonymous said...

A utilitarian object is more of a window into the soul than a treasured item of beauty. I love that there were coins in the pocket.

carrie said...

Wow - what a treasure! It reminds me of a box of jewlery and "things" from Egypt which belonged to my Great Aunt, who never had children either.

We are so lucky.