Coronavirus Reflection no. 17

I wonder if you, like me, are opting for a ‘staycation’ this summer? The United Kingdom, after all, has plenty to offer and a wide diversity of places to discover, even close to home. The one downside has to be the unreliable weather, so I was interested to note that 15^th July (Wednesday) was St. Swithun’s Day – you might be familiar with the rhyme:

St. Swithun’s Day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St Swithun’s Day if thou be fair
For forty days ‘twill rain nae mair.

Swithun was a ninth century bishop who at the end of his life ‘commanded that his body should be buried outside the church where it would be trodden by the feet of passers-by and made wet by the rain that falls from heaven’. His request was carried out when he died on July 2^nd 862. However a new cathedral was later built and the then bishop, Ethelwold, decided that despite the warnings that terrible storms would result, Swithun’s remains should be moved into a shrine inside the building. This was done on 15^th July 971 and although there were claims of miracles and cures, it apparently rained for forty days, as forecast. Ever since St Swithun’s Day has been synonymous with summer storms.

So wherever the next forty days finds you, at home or on holiday, I hope you have a blessed time.

And remember, as Alfred Wainwright said: ‘There’s no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing’.

God bless

Revd Sue

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS WEEK'S HOLY COMMUNION AT 10 A.M. WILL BE AT ST NICHOLAS, POTTERSPURY. IT WILL NOT BE STREAMED ON ZOOM, BUT A RECORDING WILL BE POSTED ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE.