Stir-Up Sunday
Stir-Up Sunday is the Sunday next before Advent, in the Church’s liturgical Calendar, and it is a day where families would gather together to stir their Christmas pudding five weeks before Christmas.
The Collect for the Sunday next before Advent, according to the Book Of Common Prayer, is as follows: “Stir up, O Lord, the wills of your faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by you be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” So the tradition stands that Stir-Up Sunday is the day to get stirring!
And it therefore follows that there are some Stir-Up traditions
- Christmas pudding would traditionally contain 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and his disciples.
- It is traditionally stirred (whilst making a wish) by each member of the family from East to West, to remember the Wise Men that visited Jesus in the Nativity Story.
- The customary garnish of holly represents the crown of thorns. But be warned: the holly berry is very toxic, so instead perhaps use fake foliage!
- Adding coins, originally charms, to the pud was said to bring luck if you found them in your portion on Christmas Day. The traditional lucky charms were a silver coin for wealth, a wishbone for luck, a thimble for thrift, a ring for marriage, and an anchor for safe harbour. However biting down on such a thing would surely cause great discomfort and probably a trip to the dentist with a cracked tooth, so I don’t recommend this.
The Reverend Fr Michael Brown
Association Chaplain
Regulating Branch and Royal Navy Police Association
Image credit: www.greatbritishchefs.com