stir up sunday - is it this sunday? who does this?

Natty68

The official date this year for Stir it up Sunday is 20th November I only know as I had to look it up so I didn't end up making my pudding to late

WeegieWumman

I heard of stir-up Sunday but for some unknown reason I thought that it had died out a century ago.

Jevvers

Stir up Sunday in our house last year, like you I wanted to revive the tradition for our family

WeegieWumman

Jevvers,
This is such a cute photo to keep for posterity. Although I've only ever heard about stir-up Sunday, it's lovely to think a tradition which I believed to be long gone has been kept alive. Long may it continue.

WeegieWumman

ubamother wrote: »

If you really want to know why it's called Stir Up Sunday read on.....

Thank you so much for the information about stir-up Sunday. I enjoyed reading your post.

Icey77

Natty68 wrote: »

The official date this year for Stir it up Sunday is 20th November I only know as I had to look it up so I didn't end up making my pudding to late

Whoop, I was planning on making my cake this weekend anyway
I'm pregnant with our first baby so this will be the start ofa fab tradition in our house :T

Justamum

We used to always make a wish when the Christmas pudding was being made. I haven't done it with my children as I don't make Christmas cakes and puddings because there's only my DH and I who would eat them - the children don't like dried fruit* - and we'd end up having to go on a diet in the new year!

I might start reviving it this year though - I'm always happy to eat christmas pudding at any time of year and so is DH :rotfl:



*strange children I've bred! When I was a child when my mum made any cakes with dried fruit in she would always wash extra and put it in a bowl for me to eat when I came home from school. Nowadays I just eat it straight from the packet

Rev_Charles_Overton

The Vicar says..
Stir-up Sunday is an informal term in Anglican churches for the last Sunday before the season of Advent
The term comes from the opening words of the collect (special prayer)for the day in the Book of Common Prayer of 1549
Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. In the Book of Common Prayer of 1662 and later, this collect is listed for "The Twenty-Fifth Sunday After Trinity", with a rubric (an instruction) specifying that this collect "shall always be used upon the Sunday next before Advent".

This is not the last Sunday in November, but rather the fifth Sunday before Christmas... because Advent always covers four Sundays before Christmas.
This year Advent Sunday is 27th November (the earliest it can ever be) so "Stir-up" Sunday is 20th November

Since Advent Sunday marks the start of the Christian Year, the "Stir-up" collect is the prayer especially for the last Sunday of the old year, looking forward to the new.

Some people make "Stir-up" Sunday the day they make their Christmas puddings. My mother told me it was supposed to be the last day by when you should have made the puddings (as they improve a bit with keeping). When I was a child we all were encouraged to stir the pudding mixture and to make a wish, which you did not disclose to anyone else. If you are a keen Christian, you might want to offer a special prayer rather than to make a wish.

Happy mixing, and I wish you all a very happy and blessed Christmas.

VfM4meplse

Stir-up Sunday comes to my home this afternoon...

ubamother

Rev_Charles_Overton wrote: »

The Vicar says..
Stir-up Sunday is an informal term in Anglican churches for the last Sunday before the season of Advent
The term comes from the opening words of the collect (special prayer)for the day in the Book of Common Prayer of 1549
Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. In the Book of Common Prayer of 1662 and later, this collect is listed for "The Twenty-Fifth Sunday After Trinity", with a rubric (an instruction) specifying that this collect "shall always be used upon the Sunday next before Advent".

This is not the last Sunday in November, but rather the fifth Sunday before Christmas... because Advent always covers four Sundays before Christmas.
This year Advent Sunday is 27th November (the earliest it can ever be) so "Stir-up" Sunday is 20th November

Since Advent Sunday marks the start of the Christian Year, the "Stir-up" collect is the prayer especially for the last Sunday of the old year, looking forward to the new.

Some people make "Stir-up" Sunday the day they make their Christmas puddings. My mother told me it was supposed to be the last day by when you should have made the puddings (as they improve a bit with keeping). When I was a child we all were encouraged to stir the pudding mixture and to make a wish, which you did not disclose to anyone else. If you are a keen Christian, you might want to offer a special prayer rather than to make a wish.

Happy mixing, and I wish you all a very happy and blessed Christmas.

Beautifully put - if you're the Rev Charles Overton of Thomas Moore's 1833 poem, you're very lucid for your age!!!