‘Hills of the north rejoice,

Echoing songs arise, …'

The great Advent Carols will soon be ringing out from the Organ; the Church will vest in purple; purple for preparation, for penance, for renewing our interior life. In the other purple season, Lent, we keep a forty days fast. At Advent fasting is not foremost in our mind, though perhaps it should be, rather this time of year is always the time of looking forward; looking forward to the Birth of Jesus in hopeful anticipation. If we are totally honest with ourselves, Advent is also a time of stress and short tempers and queuing for that last minute present to add to all the others! So, this Advent I would like to recommend a different way to anticipate the Birth of Our Lord.

Step 1

This year's ACS Advent Book (£1) is entitled ‘A series of Mediations for Advent' written by Jane Whyman. Each week we follow a couple from the Old and New Testaments: Abraham and Sarah, Elkanah and Hannah, Zechariah and Elizabeth and Mary and Joseph as they journey on the road set them by God.

Step 2

By Advent Sunday the Advent Candles will have been delivered. If you have ordered one collect it at the same time as you collect and buy your Advent Meditation Book.

Step 3

Each day set aside five or ten minutes to prayerfully read the Meditation of that day, lighting your Advent Candle as you do so as a reminder of the Coming of the Light of the World at Christmass.

Step 4

Set aside the four Thursdays of Advent to come to evening Mass when there will be a homily on the theme from the Advent Meditation Book.

Taking these four simple steps will put all the stresses of these weeks in the proper place as we focus on what Advent and so Christmass truly are. The time when God came down from heaven to take upon Himself our corruptible flesh so that He could raise us up to share in His incorruptible glory.

Fr. Fisher

Coffee Mornings 2011

I would like to thank all who had a coffee morning this year. Thanks too to Neil for printing the tickets. The amount raised is £2110, which is a great effort.

It has been a great pleasure over the years arranging these events, but now is the time to hand over. Val and Wendy have agreed to take over. Please speak with them if you would like to host a morning.

I hope you will still support the coffee mornings.

Kath Stubbins.

Revolution in War

The English archers with 6ft longbows crushed the armies of France

The hundred years war between England and France was a war against the odds for the English who were always outnumbered by their enemy, but this fact did not stop them winning victory after victory. Nothing contributed more to the victories than the development of the longbow. Its range was accurate up to 250 yards and the rate of fire was much quicker than of the conventional crossbow. The lumbering French cavalry which previously dominated the battlefield and the chainmail worn by Noblemen afforded little protection against the skilled English longbowmen. They shot their arrows with such force and quickness which was due mainly to the hours of target practice. Their weapons and wedge-like battle formations and their arrows implanted in the ground before them. They won the famous victories at Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt. The first of these battles came on the afternoon of 26 th August 1346 at Crecy, 32 miles south of Boulogne. The French Army was 40,000 strong and was one of the largest armies ever raised in France. King Edward IIIs invading troops was scarcely one third of this size but by nightfall over 10,000 Frenchmen had perished. Among the dead were many of the greatest Knights and Nobles of feudal France. It is said that King Edward was less than pleased as he would have preferred to capture them alive and receive a ransom for their release. Crecy made a hero of King Edward III. His judgement and control had been faultless but above all it proved the superiority of English tactics – the combination of longbowmen and dismounted men at arms over the outdated crossbowmen and slow cavalry charges. After winning the battle shortage of food and supplies forced Edward to retreat to the coast so he could not follow up his great victory. King Edward's ambition to be King of France was never achieved – he tried over three decades, but it established the King's eldest son, the Black Prince as a popular hero. He was called the Black Prince because of his black armour which he wore on the battlefield at Crecy. A magnificent effigy of the Prince and his battle scarred shield can be seen at Canterbury Cathedral where he was buried in 1376.

The very rude two fingered gesture came from the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 when English archers were told by the King of France that he would cut off two fingers from the right hand of every English Archer captured. Before the Battle of Agincourt all English Archers held up two fingers of the right hand in defiance toward the French King.

Frank Underwood

A Thank you from the Charity Hope

Dear Ms. Underwood,

Hope for the Homeless would like to pass our thanks to the Priory congregation for the donation of Harvest Festival produce. All of the produce donated is distributed between the various projects HOPE provides.

We have a Day Service, open Monday-Friday, where clients can visit during the daytime and are provided with a healthy cooked meal.

Our Emergency Accommodation which has 14 bed spaces also provides an evening meal and snacks for the clients staying there.

We also provide an emergency food parcel service for anyone in financial crisis. These clients are referred to us by various organisations in the Bassetlaw area, including Women's Aid, CAB and MACRO. As you can see a little food goes a long way.

Once again, we would like to thank you for your continued support. Yours faithfully

Sandy Smith