Wise Women: The Vicar and the Witch. Episode 94: Christmas Stories and the Nativity Tray

Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate this sacred festival. It's Christmas Eve and we are talking about how we spend our Christmases, laughing over mis-heard carols, standing in Sovereignty and offering service.

The Nativity Tray is a beautiful idea told by Sarah Ban Breathnach in her book 'Simple Abundance:

“Legend has it that on the night of the Nativity, whoever ventures out into great snows (or any bad weather) bearing a succulent bone for a lost and lamenting hound, a wisp of hay or some oats for a shivering horse, a warm cloak for a stranded wayfarer, a garland of bright berries for one who has worn chains, a dish of crumbs for all huddled birds who thought their song was dead and sweetmeats for little children who peer from lonely windows, ‘shall be proffered and returned gifts of such an astonishment as will rival the hues of the peacock and the harmonies of heaven.’”