December 3 2017 First Sunday of Advent Cycle B. St James Church in St Andrews, Fife My earliest memories of Church liturgy are of the early days in response to Vatican II. I still had some of the classic moments of a Catholic upbringing. For instance I can remember being eight years old and cycling my bike over to the Parish Church in Cabinteely every morning for a week when it was my duty to serve the early mass. A lot of basic knowledge was lost though, such as a real awareness of the liturgical year. It is only in later years that I've settled into the rhythm and think of this as the beginning of the year. This makes three new years for me; the calendar year, the university year and the liturgical. St Pauls Church in Cambridge Mass. did advent best of any churches I've attended, but I think that is really because they had a really fabulous Advent wreath, made from ivy and moss, that hung horizontally in the middle of the nave. In the half light with the multi-coloured cand...