Christmas pudding decorated with skimmia rather than holly. This Christmas pudding was made and photographed by Musical Linguist in December 2005
'Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people.'

The Sunday before the First Sunday of Advent is Stir-up Sunday. Andy Jackson finds out the origins of the name and where you can find a selection of recipes for Christmas pudding

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Stir-up Sunday is a term used in church circles for the Sunday before the season of Advent.

The term comes is believed to originate from the opening words of the collect 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."

The day subsequently became connected with the preparation of Christmas puddings.

In later editions of the BCP, the collect is listed for "The Twenty-Fifth Sunday After Trinity", with instructions specifying that it should be used on the Sunday before Advent.

Rule

The rule was necessary as the Sunday before Advent does not always fall on the twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity.

In recent years, Anglican and Catholic churches observe the Sunday as Christ the King.

In the Episcopal Church of the United States of America, the collect appointed for the Third Sunday of Advent in the Book of Common Prayer (1979) begins with the phrase "stir up your power O Lord."

Thus, in many Episcopal Churches, the Third Sunday of Advent, also known as Gaudete (rejoice) Sunday, is referred to as "stir-up Sunday."

In Commentary on the American Prayer Book, Marion Hatchett notes that in the Pre-Reformation English Sarum Rite, collects for four of the last five Sundays before Christmas began with the phrase excita or "stir up."

A similar collect to the one appointed in the BCP 1979 appears in the recent book authorised for use in the Church of England, Common Worship, appointed for the Second Sunday of Advent.

Christmas pudding recipes

Christmas pudding has its origins in England, and is sometimes known as plum pudding, though this can also refer to other kinds of boiled pudding involving a lot of dried fruit.

Recipes for plum puddings appear mainly in the seventeenth century and later.

Their possible ancestors include savory puddings such as those in Harleian MS 279, crustades, malaches whyte, creme boiled (a kind of stirred custard), and sippets.

Various ingredients and methods of these older recipes appear in early plum puddings.

The top Christmas Pudding recipe on the Good Food Channel's website is that of cookery writer Nigel Slater. His recipe can be found here.

The Good Food Channel website also has a number of other Christmas Pudding recipes, such as Christmas Pudding and chocolate cheesecake, Cinnamon, Orange and Plum Pudding with Whisky Custard, Christmas Pudding Souffle, a Vegetarian Christmas Pudding, Delia Smith's traditional Christmas Pudding, and a last minute Instant Christmas Pudding.

You can go back in time and follow a number of recipes for Christmas and plum puddings from Mrs Beeton's famous cook books.

And for those with a food allergy or intolerance, the BBC's recipe website has a recipe for a pudding that is free from dairy, wheat, gluten and soya; which can be egg and nut free and can have no added sugar.

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