No Destitute Child Ever Refused Admission

"Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:19)

http://spartacus-educational.com/REbarnardo.htm

NO DESTITUTE CHILD EVER REFUSED ADMISSION read the sign above the entrance to the Barnardo Home.  Started by the evangelical Christian Dr. Barnardo in 1866, Stepney House, located at 18 Stepney Causeway, provided shelter for London's poor and orphaned children.  The doctor, who hailed from Ireland, had worked in London's East End Hospital where he cared for cholera victims.  He had toured the rooftops of Whitechapel with orphan Jim Jarvis where he had seen street children living in filth.  The short figure had stood on a chair in the East End and ministered to the crowds about Jesus.  But when words failed to bring about change, he acted, opening Stepney House to shelter London's "waifs".

http://the-east-end.co.uk/doctor-barnardo/

 

The Barnardo Home was leased for 99 years at 57 pounds per year.  It included five bedrooms which housed 60 boys.  In 1871, Stepney House was full and Dr. Barnardo was forced to turn away a red-haired boy, John Somers, nicknamed "Carrots".  Here is the doctor's account:

"When first I visited the Shades by midnight, or rather early morn, "Carrots" was there, and when by the offer of a halfpenny to each, I succeeded in counting out 73 destitute lads from the various shelters of old barrels, crates and packages in which they had been ensconced.  I thought I had seldom seen a more unpleasant specimen of boy life than he exhibited.  Having out of this number selected five poor lads to fill an equal number of beds in our Home, my memory vividly recalls the earnestness with which Carrots pleaded to be taken also, but alas, it could not be; we were already filled, and the five lads I then selected were as many as the funds in my hands warranted receiving.  A few mornings later, as some porters were moving a large sugar hogshead...they disturbed a sleeping boy...the porter took the form of the lad in his arms...only then did he perceive that "Carrots" was dead!" (http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/JohnSomers/)

http://canadianbritishhomechildren.weebly.com/stepney-causeway.html

From then on, the evangelical vowed to never turn anyone else away.  The Home's slogan became "No Destitute Child Ever Refused Admission".    In 1874, Dr. Barnardo opened 10 Stepney Causeway, the first open all hours shelter.  Two years later, Dr. Barnardo expanded the Home to include numbers 19 to 26.  By 1900, he added numbers 8 and 6.  By 1908, the Home offered a general education and trade training for the children.  The children who stayed in these Homes, were labelled Home Children.

Tinsmiths Shop courtesy http://canadianbritishhomechildren.weebly.com/stepney-causeway.html.

While Stepney Causeway housed primarily boys, a second Home was opened for girls in Barkingside, outside of London, in 1876.  More Homes would follow but Dr. Barnardo could not keep up with the influx of destitute children.  For the next sixty years, 100,000 British home children, including my great-grandma, would immigrate to Canada as child labour.  The slogan at 18 Stepney Causeway, however, remained in practice.

http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Barnardos/Barnardos5.jpg

The Rocking Carol (Little Jesus Sweetly Sleep)

Little Jesus sweetly sleep, do not stir;

We will lend a coat of fur,

We will rock you, rock you, rock you

We will rock you, rock you, rock you:

See the fur to keep you warm

Snugly round your tiny form.

This Czech Christmas carol was collected by Miss Jacubikova and translated into English by Percy Dearmer in the late 1928 for the Oxford Book of Carols.  Dearmer was a clergyman with an interest in social gospel and rescuing neglected carols.  The tune for the song is similar to that of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  The rhythm is similar to that of a lullaby.  This carol could have accompanied cradle rocking, a practice started in Germany during Medieval Times.  The carol was popularized by Julie Andrews in the 1960's (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YocejZuyKno).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qkSpDMytzM

Isaac Watt's "Joy to the World"

Joy to the world

The Lord is come

Let Earth receive her King

Let every heart 

Prepare him room

And heaven and nature sing

And heaven and nature sing

And heaven and heaven and nature sing.

Joy to the World, written by Isaac Watts in 1719, is based on Psalm 98 in the Bible.  Rather than glorifying God's entry into the world as a newborn baby, the carol heralds God's triumphant return to Earth at the end of the age, bringing Salvation to humanity.  The song was adapted and arranged from an older melody by Lowell Mason in 1839.  As late as the 20th Century, Joy to the World was the most published hymn in North America.  It was the final hymn at my childhood church's Christmas Eve service every year.

In 1965, the Supremes recorded Joy to the World for their Christmas album Merry Christmas.  Andy Williams recorded the song for his Christmas Present LP in 1974.  Faith Hill recorded the song for her Joy to the World album in 2008.  For an a cappella performance, visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Joy-to-the-World_KB.ogg.

 

Cesare Pavese Inspiration for La Dolce Vita Writer

Federico Fellini's masterpiece La Dolce Vita, which won a Palme d'Or, was based on the life of Italian writer and poet Cesare Pavese.  In the 1930's and 1940's, he moved in anti-Fascist circles. Pavese's protagonists tended to be loners and their relationships tended to be superficial.  Pavese seemed to lack purpose in his life.  He spiralled into a depression and committed suicide in 1950. Italians took the death of the great author and poet very hard.

Fellini's protagonist in La Dolce Vita is also a writer.  He works as a gossip columnist, chronicling "the sweet life" ("la dolce vita) of fading aristocrats, second rate movie stars and aging playboys.  He attends high class parties and meets bikini clad women while his long suffering fiancee waits at home.  He is a "soulless man" with empty nights and lonely mornings.  His life lacks purpose and meaning.

Fellini catches old Rome on film in scenes at the baths of Caracalla, the Trevi Fountain, the Via Veneto and St. Peter's Square.  The story chronicles the seven deadly sins which take place over seven days on the seven hills of Rome.  One scene shows a statue of Christ being transported above the Roman aqueducts as someone yells:  "Look, it's Jesus!"

The Roman Catholic Church considered the scene to be sacreligious as it seemed like the Second Coming of Christ.  They banned the film in Spain until 1975.  The film, however, was well received at the Cannes Film Festival where it won the Palme d'Or.

http://www.classicartfilms.com/la-dolce-vita-1960

The Star of Bethlehem

O star of wonder, star of night,

Star with royal beauty bright,

Westward leading, still proceeding,

Guide us to thy perfect light.

(We Three Kings)

Adoration of the Magi courtesy en.wikipedia.org.

The Star of Bethlehem, also called The Star of the East or The Christmas Star, appeared over Bethlehem after Jesus' birth, according to the Gospel of Matthew.  The Magi, sometimes translated as wisemen, sometimes as astrologers, followed the brilliant star to Bethlehem, to visit the baby Jesus.  The presented Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, twelve days after his birth, referred to as Epiphany.  The wisemen did not return to their homeland via the same route, after God warned them that King Herod, who was expecting them, planned to kill baby Jesus once he found out his whereabouts.  

The mystery of the Bethlehem Star remains.  Conjecture over past centuries has produced various theories as to why the star was so brilliant.  Was it the conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn? Was it Uranus?  Was it a comet, as depicted by in the 13th Century Italian painting Adoration of the Magi?  Was it a supernova, "a stellar explosion which briefly outshines an entire galaxy, radiating as much energy as the sun" (wikipedia)?

Regardless of the source of the Star, it must have been a magnificent sight for the magi to behold. I'm sure its beauty took their breath away, rendered them speechless.  What a fitting way for God to announce the arrival of His Son, our Saviour!  

My Favourite Christmas Decoration

My Mom loves Christmas.  She has always done an excellent job decorating her house to celebrate the season.  When I was growing up, Mom would put up a large artificial tree in the living room (later rec room).  She would put a medium sized silver tree (circa 1960's) on top of the grand piano. She would hang our monogrammed red and white stockings above the fireplace.  She wrapped garland around the staircase leading up to the bedrooms.  She hung a large wreath on our front door.

But my favourite Christmas decoration was the manger scene that sat on our television set.  It came in a rectangular box which said MADE IN ITALY on the bottom.  The roof folded up to fit inside the box as did the stable.  Plastic figurines lay under the roof.  Mom would set up the stable, open up the roof to go on top, and place the figurines carefully in their spots.  Mary and Joseph sat on either side of baby Jesus, sleeping on what looked like a tiny stool lined with hay.  The donkey, ox and lamb gazed at the baby Jesus from a distance. The three wise men, their gifts in their hands, waited in a single file line to see the newborn king. The angel hung from a nail at the peak of the roof.  And the best part of all was the miniature light bulb poking through the back of the stable to serve as the Star over Bethlehem.  

There was something so peaceful about that creche.  When Rob and I bought our house we tried to find a nativity scene just like it, but to no avail.  It was one of a kind.  For more information, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nativity_scene.

Advent: The Season of Anticipation

Today at church Jacqueline and I helped the Junior and Senior Kindergarten Sunday School students put together advent wreaths (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advent_wreath).  We gave each student a green wreath cut out of styrofoam-like material. Then, we gave them candle #1, HOPE, which they had to colour purple.  Next was candle #2 PEACE which they had to colour purple as well.  Candle #3 was JOY which they coloured pink.  Candle #4 was LOVE which they coloured purple and Candle #5 was JESUS which they left white.  Some of the students were already had their candles coloured and glued on.  Some needed help with the colouring and gluing.  Some needed help reading the five words.  But all were immersed in the activity, their little fingers working busily to finish the task.

The season of advent brings back great memories for me.  The anticipation of the coming of Christmas, the coming of Jesus, makes it so exciting.  I remember the Christmas wreath at our home church.  I always looked forward to the lighting of one candle, followed the next week by two, and so on, building up to the Jesus or Christ candle on Christmas Eve.  One of the Advent Sundays was also a white gift Sunday where we would wrap a canned good in white tissue paper, twist it at the ends and put it under the Christmas tree at the front of the sanctuary.

As an adult, we celebrate Advent at home as well, following Rob's German Lutheran tradition.  My mom gave us her old wreath which she used to hang on our front door.  I bought a holder which fits four candles which sits inside the wreath.  We sit it on our dining room table.  For each of the Sundays of Advent, once it gets dark, we light a candle on the wreath, and sing Christmas carols (English and German).  At the end, we take turns saying a prayer and blowing out a candle.  As toddlers, our children cried when they had to sit still for Advent.  As preschoolers, they suggested we sing Happy Birthday (the only song they knew by heart).  As older children, they loved the tradition.

In two weeks, we will light the Candle of PEACE.  I can already feel the anticipation.  Maybe some of my Kindergarten students will post their wreaths on their fridge doors.  Likely some will have an Advent wreath at home.  Maybe they'll even sing. I'm sure Jesus will smile when he hears their little voices.