Dear Reader
Dear Reader,
The Holy Thorn is a form of common hawthorn found in and round Glastonbury. Unlike ordinary hawthorns it flowers twice a year, the first time in winter and the second in spring. It is associated with legends about Joseph of Arimathea and the arrival of Christianity in Britain and has appeared in written texts since the medieval period. A flowering sprig is sent to the British Monarch every Christmas.
The Thorn kept Glastonbury's legendary history alive during the centuries between the dissolution of the monasteries and the town's renaissance as a spiritual centre in the twentieth century. Glastonbury Abbey was dissolved in 1539 and substantially demolished during the reign of Elizabeth I, but the Thorn continues to flower at Christmas and many Catholics saw this as a "Testimony to Religion, that it might flourish in persecution".
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2020 has been a very strange year for us all, and as I write whatever plans you have made for Christmas will perhaps have to be rearranged. But whatever you do and with whomsoever, I wish you a very happy Christmas Day. Francis and I are going to stay here at home with no family visiting which is very sad. But we mean to make it a joyful day, eating duck and Christmas pudding then out for a walk if the sun shines. We know we are very lucky to have a warm house and plenty to eat and drink but we will be thinking of those who don't. A very special Happy Christmas to you if you are one of those.
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Equality
Christmas Day.
The house fills with laughter, music,
the tree sparkles, aglow with stars,
angels and white roses.
Under ribboned branches, a present-pile,
exciting, enticing, the children
jump, squeal, and dance, eyes bright.
The turkey is succulent, the pudding sweet,
there are chocolates, crackers, jokes.
But a thought buzzes, wasp-like in my head:
while families reunite, reaffirm love, smile, chat,
I think of those who have none of that.
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With very best wishes to you all, Patricia
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