Christmas Day 2023

Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas, if you celebrate it. 

'For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. 

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.' 

Isaiah 9: 6-7

This nativity scene is part of the reredos behind the altar in the Lady Chapel at York Minster, directly under the extraordinary Great East Window, the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in England. (See my earlier post HERE). The reredos isn't medieval, because this part of the Minster was destroyed in a fire in the 1830s and was closed for a long time. I think the carved altar screen dates back to the 1920s. It is ornate but pleasing nonetheless, showing the magi on the left and shepherds on the right, worshipping the infant Jesus. 

These depictions of the Christmas story (the reason for the season!) can leave us feeling that it is all rather sweet, lovely and 'far away' but, as the video below shows, it is a very current story.