Advent will start on 01 December, so check to see if you need Advent candles!
Mothers' Union will be selling candle sets for $20 after worship on Sunday, 17 and 24 November and 01 December.
The cost is $20 for a five candle set and booklet ‘Celebrating Advent at Home’.
Candle sets can also be pre-ordered. Please make delivery/pick-up arrangements with Susan Watson. Email <bagel.watson at hotmail.com>.
Mothers' Union volunteers served students at university 'Pause Tables' in April 2024. Held during exam weeks, the event has become a welcome tradition.
The 'Pause Table' initiative has become one that is welcomed by university students during exam week.
Campus ministries at the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University are once again collaborating with faith communities to host the Pause Tables during upcoming exams, and the Cathedral branch of Mothers' Union will be participating again this year.
Volunteers will provide free food, beverages, a listening ear, and conversation, and handwritten personalized notes to give students a break from studying. Mothers’ Union will host a Pause Table on Monday, 09 December, 2024.
Donations of food from the congregation would be greatly appreciated. Non-perishable items such as hot chocolate, granola bars, juice boxes, microwaveable noodles etc.) can be delivered to the Hall Kitchen any day during office hours (9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon). Perishable items (baked goods, sandwiches, fruit, etc.). can be dropped off on Sunday, 08 December during services. Please mark items for UNB.
Mothers' Union also welcomes anyone who would like to spend some time at the Pause Table interacting with students. Contact Diane Nash <mrsnash68 at gmail.com> or Susan Watson <bagel.watson at hotmail.com> if you have any further questions or wish to be added to the schedule for that day.
The Pause Table initiative has become one that is welcomed by university students during exam week.
Campus ministries at UNB and STU are once again collaborating with faith communities to host the tables during upcoming exams. Volunteers will provide free food, beverages, a listening ear, and conversation, and handwritten personalized notes to give students a break from studying.
The Cathedral branch of Mothers’ Union will host a Pause Table on Monday, 15 April, 2024.
Donations of food would be greatly appreciated from the congregation (baked goods, sandwiches, fruit, microwaveable noodles, etc.). Non-perishable items can be delivered to Cathedral Memorial Hall during business hours. Perishable items can dropped off on Sunday, 14 April during worship. Please mark them for UNB Outreach.
We also welcome volunteers who would like to spend some time at the Pause Table interacting with students. Contact Diane Nash <mrsnash68 at gmail.com> or Susan Watson <bagel.watson at hotmail.com> if you have questions or wish to be added to the schedule.
Mothering Sunday, not to be confused with Canadian Mother's Day, is celebrated in Anglican Churches on the fourth Sunday in Lent; and dates to the custom in England when domestic servants in the grand houses of the landed gentry were permitted to go home to visit their home church and mother. Often the housekeeper or cook would allow the maids to bake a cake to take home to their mother. Sometimes a gift of eggs or flowers from the garden (or hothouse) was allowed, or they may have picked wildflowers from he wayside, violets especially.
In Canada, Mothers' Union branches observe Mothering Sunday by distributing flowers to mothers and serving the traditional Simnel cake and/or cookies after worship. Simnel cake is a light fruit cake made with a layer of marzipan in the middle and if desired a layer on top. The cake is decorated with 11 marzipan balls representing the 12 apostles minus Judas, the betrayer of Christ. If 12 balls are used, the 12th one is to represent Jesus.
Laetare (Rejoice) Sunday
Even more ancient custom is the Fourth Sunday in Lent referred to as Laetare Sunday, when the Church took a bit of a breather from Lenten practice and opened the Eucharist with the entrance antiphon, “Rejoice, Jerusalem … be joyful, all who were in mourning!” – from Isaiah chapter 66. The Latin word means “rejoice..”
On this Sunday, in churches that had them, priests would wear rose coloured vestments on both Laetare Sunday and Gaudete Sunday (the Third Sunday of Advent). The colour was used as a sign of the joy characterizing these two Sundays. The use of rose vestments may even originate in an even more ancient tradition of the Church blessing golden roses that were sent to heads of state on the Fourth Sunday in Lent.
In addition to attending Sunday worship a family might choose to mark Laetare Sunday by anticipating the Easter feast; a Sunday brunch with roses on the table or during this beginning period of spring to plant a rose bush on this day. Noting the medieval tradition of visiting one’s “mother church” (the church where one was baptized) on this day might suggest a family trip to see where mom and dad or the children began their journey of faith. In any case, this Sunday seemed to be a most appropriate day for “Mothering Sunday.”
Recipe for Simnel Cake
| 3/4 cup soft butter 3/4 cup sugar 4 eggs 1/2 tsp almond extract 2 cups raisins 1 cup currants 1/2 cup mixed peel |
1/3 cup chopped candied cherries 2 tsp lemon rind 2 cups flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 500 grams of almond paste, at room temperature |
Directions:
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs 1 at a time. Add almond extract. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to eggs, then add the fruit and mix.
Put 1/2 the mixture in an 8” springform pan lined with waxed or parchment paper. Roll half of almond paste and place in pan. Spoon remainder of batter on top. Bake 30 min at 350°F then reduce heat to 300°F and bake 1 1/2 hours longer. Cool 10 min. Heat oven to 425°F.
Roll remaining almond paste into an 8” round circle and 12 small balls. Put the circle on top of the cake and place the balls on top like the numbers on a clock.
Listen to Deacon Isabel Cutler speak about Mothers' Union at the Cathedral on Sunday March 10th.
Through exam week, campus ministries are collaborating with faith communities to host Pause Tables. Volunteers will provide free food, beverages, a listening ear and conversation, to give students a break from studying.
The Cathedral branch of Mothers' Union will be handing out treats to the UNB students again this year on 11 December.
You can help by contributing some items!
Deliver non-perishable items (e.g. drink boxes, packaged snacks, hot chocolate packs, etc.) to the Cathedral on Sunday morning or leave them at the Cathedral Office labelled for MU or UNB outreach.
Deliver baked goods (e.g. cookies, muffins, etc.) to the Hall kitchen on Sunday, December 10th between 2-3:30 and 5-7:30 as volunteers from Mothers' Union will be in the building at those times.
Thank you for your help in reaching out to provide care and comfort to university students in our community.
On Saturday, 28 October, the Cathedral Branch of Mothers’ Union got together in the Cathedral Hall Kitchen to make sets of Advent Candles.
We have been making these beeswax candles for at least 20 years now. It is the major fundraiser for our group. Each fall, the purple and pink wax is ordered from a company in British Columbia, and we are always surprised at the various shades of these two colours that we receive. Equipped with our hair dryers, we arrive at the Hall kitchen, prepared to make and assemble the sets we hope to sell that year just prior to Advent. We know these candles have become a major part of the Advent celebration in the homes of Cathedral members and others who seek them out each year.
This activity was traditionally carried out at our October Wednesday night meeting, but last year we needed to meet on a Saturday to get it done. We so enjoyed that Saturday morning, and the lunch that followed afterwards, that we decided it would be nice to repeat that this year. About half of our 15 members were able to participate. You will see our members selling the $20 sets, that include 3 purple and 1 pink candle, in the Cathedral starting on 12 November through to the first Sunday in Advent.
The photo below is from our Spring Retreat that took place on Mactaquac Lake. Back row left to right: Sandra Noftell, Bonnie Greenwood, Rosa Macaulay, Susan Black, middle: Kelley Hall, Diane Nash, Susan Watson, Susan Colpitts-Judd, Michele Leblanc, front: Lilian Ketch, Isabel Cutler. Missing from photo: Kathleen Snow, John DosSantos, Joanne Barfitt and Diane Radford.
From left to right: Susan Watson, Kathleen Snow, Diane Radford, Bonnie Greenwood, Joanne Barfitt, John DosSantos, Michele Leblanc, Lilian Ketch, and Susan Colpitts-Judd.
The Cathedral branch of the Mothers’ Union hosted a Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Tea in June of 2022 and although it was not a fundraising event, we did however, receive donations. After covering our expenses, we decided we wanted to use the balance of the funds to commemorate the Queen’s Jubilee in a lasting way.
The Queen’s Green Canopy initiative was launched to encourage people to “Plant a tree for the Jubilee” to mark her 70 years on the throne. It was subsequently extended to give the opportunity to plant trees in the Queen’s memory.
When we heard of this project, we all agreed that this would be the perfect memorial to our beloved Queen Elizabeth II.
After consultation with Eric Hadley, a member of the Cathedral Property Committee, and with help from other members of the Guild of Saint Joseph, our Jubilee Sugar Maple was planted on the corner of Brunswick and Church Streets on May 12.
Ashley Swim, Eric Hadley, and Harry Palmer planting the tree.
Prior to our May 17th meeting, many of our Mothers’ Union members gathered around our tree, a blessing was read, and a group photo was taken. A cold wind had picked up and almost blew us all away so a re-shoot took place on a sunny and warm May 23rd.
Much appreciation is extended to Eric Hadley, Gary Barfitt, Harry Palmer, and Ashley Swim for delivering the tree from the nursery and planting it for us. Thanks to Gary Barfitt and Bill Robinson for taking the photos.
Submitted by Bonnie Greenwood
The Prayer:
Almighty God, we come before you this day in humility and gratitude as we seek your blessing on the life of this Sugar Maple tree, which is planted to remember our Sovereign Lady and Patron Queen Elizabeth II. May this tree take root in this soil, drawing from it water and nutrients, so it may grow and prosper, bringing beauty in its leaves offering shelter to birds and insects and enriching this place with its presence and life. And we ask this in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
On May 10, we hosted a Newcomer Dessert Event at Cathedral Hall. The evening was organized by the Mother's Union, Kurt Schmidt (Director of Christian Formation), and Andreas Decken (Chair of Welcoming and Hospitality).
Kurt and Andreas are extremely grateful to the Mothers' Union for doing an excellent job providing treats and setting up the Hall for the event. We had over 30 people in attendance; many congregational members that are part of various Cathedral Groups were present, but also a number of "new" faces to our worship. We were able to formally welcome people that call Christ Church Cathedral their spiritual home after moving to Fredericton within the last few years. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that many newcomers were active in other parishes prior to moving to Fredericton and bring their expertise, experiences and ideas with them.
Many in attendance also noted that this event was an excellent venue for members of the various groups within the congregation to talk to one another, learn more about each other's involvement and getting to know each other.
And yes, the desserts were amazing.
- Andreas Decken, Welcoming and Hospitality Chair
"The annual rally day of the Mothers’ Union was held April 29 at Christ Church Cathedral with 50 members in attendance. The day began with a service of Holy Eucharist with several members reading scripture. Dean Geoffrey Hall and Archbishop David Edwards presided. The bishop preached, telling those gathered that the role of a Christian is to reflect the image of God in the world. ..."
Click here to read the article by NB Anglican Editor Gisele McKnight.
Mothers' Union is an international Christian membership charity of 4 million members living in over 80 countries, who share one heartfelt vision — to bring about a world where God's love is shown through loving, respectful and flourishing relationships. Members actively pursue this vision through community programs, advocacy campaigns and a committed prayer life.
Mothering Sunday, not to be confused with Canadian Mother's Day, is celebrated in Anglican Churches on the Fourth Sunday in Lent. Learn more about Mothering Sunday, and get the recipe for Simnel Cake, a traditional Mothering Sunday treat!