FOLLOWING wonderful summer weather, we look forward to the first day of August, which marks the traditional Christian celebration of Lammas – “loaf-mass” in Anglo-Saxon – when the first fruits of the harvest are brought into church to be blessed with a loaf of bread, made from the new crop, to be used for holy communion.

This festival was originally a pagan one, pre-dating Christianity, and marked an important point in the agricultural year. People’s lives then were dictated by sunrise and sunset, the seasons and the cycle of farming.

A successful crop meant that people had confidence that the harvest would also be good and they and their livestock would have sufficient food to last them through the winter. If not, the prospect was bleak.

Lammas was a time of great celebration with processions to church, blessing of bakeries and many festivities. Every village would have its own celebrations but the practice has now largely lapsed with a few exceptions such as Exeter and Ballycastle.

Some churches celebrate Lammas with a special loaf and this prayer: “Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation; you bring forth bread from the fields and give us the fruits of the earth in their seasons. Accept this loaf, which we bring before you, made from the harvest of your goodness. Let it be for us a sign of your fatherly care. Blessed are you, Lord our God, worthy of our thanksgiving and praise. Blessed be God for ever.”

When we consider how we are surrounded by so many examples of the fragility of human life – such as wars in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza, floods in Texas, famine in East Africa – let us count our own blessings and give thanks for what we have as well as helping those who are not so fortunate.

Julia Keep

St Austell Deanery