VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, we are halfway through October now, and the countryside has settled into the deep, golden hush that only autumn can bring. The mornings are sharp with frost, and the leaves are falling in earnest—not the gentle drift of early October, but a steady cascade of gold and russet and bronze. The hedgerows are stripped of their berries, the … Continue reading A Prayer for Mid-October
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, October is upon us, and the countryside has begun its slow turn towards winter. The mornings are cool now, and there is a mist in the valley that lingers until the sun burns it away. The hedgerows are heavy with berries—haws and hips and sloes—and the swallows have gone, leaving the skies to the rooks and the redwings. … Continue reading A Prayer for Early October
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I’ve been thinking, this week, about the turning of the year. The mornings are cooler now, and there is a mist in the valley that lingers until noon. The hedgerows are heavy with berries—haws and hips and sloes—and the swallows are gathering on the wires, preparing for their long journey south. The leaves are beginning to turn, not … Continue reading A Prayer for Autumn
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I trust that you are well. I have been thinking, this week, about the friends who have walked beside us on the road. Not the acquaintances we nod to at the shop, nor the names in our address books that we never call—but the true friends, the ones who know us as we are and love us still. … Continue reading A Prayer for Friends Old and New
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I have been thinking, this week, about the ones who are finding it hard to be patient. The farmers who have sown and waited and watched, and whose harvest has not come. The ones who lie awake at night, staring at the ceiling, wondering how they will pay the bills. The ones whose hands are calloused and whose hearts … Continue reading A Prayer for the Struggling Farmer
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I have been thinking, this week, about the harvest. Not just the harvest of the fields—the wheat and the barley, the oats and the rye—but the harvest of our lives. The seeds we have sown in spring, the labour we have offered through the long days of summer, now coming to fruition in the golden weeks of autumn. There … Continue reading A Prayer for Harvest
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I trust that you are well and healthy. I have been thinking, this week, about the particular gift of this land we call home. Not a grand, boastful land, but a quiet one—a land of hedgerows and footpaths, of dry-stone walls and winding lanes, of village churches and market towns that have stood for a thousand years. It is … Continue reading A Prayer for the British Countryside
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, as the Editor wrote this week, the countryside does not rush. It has its rhythms, its seasons, its own unhurried pace. The oak tree does not try to grow faster than the oak tree next to it. The river does not hurry to reach the sea. They simply are, and in their being, they teach us to be still, … Continue reading A Prayer for the Turning Seasons
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I have been thinking, this week, about the quiet rebellion of doing nothing. In a world that constantly demands more—more productivity, more output, more engagement—the act of simply stopping feels almost dangerous. We have forgotten how to rest. We treat our Sundays like any other day, filling them with chores and errands and the endless scrolling of screens. The … Continue reading A Prayer for the Gift of Rest
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I have been thinking, this week, about the creatures who walk beside us through our days. The dog at our heel, the cat on the windowsill, the horse in the paddock, the sheep in the field. They ask so little and give so much. They do not care for our titles or our bank balances. They do not judge … Continue reading A Prayer for All Creatures
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, there is a particular gift in the quiet moments of rural life that so often pass us by. Not the showy ones—not the blazing sunsets or the dramatic thunderstorms—but the quiet, steady ones. The countryside does not rush. It has its rhythms, its seasons, its own unhurried pace. But I have also been thinking, this week, about the treasure … Continue reading A Prayer for the Wisdom of the Elders
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I have been thinking, this week, about the invisible threads that stitch our communities together. The cup of sugar borrowed and returned with thanks. The gate left open for the postman. The nod of recognition from the tractor driver as he passes. The fruit left on the wall for whoever might pass by. These are the small, unspoken covenants … Continue reading A Prayer for Good Neighbours
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, there is a particular gift in the quiet moments of rural life that so often pass us by. Not the showy ones—not the blazing sunsets or the dramatic thunderstorms—but the quiet, steady ones. The way the light lingers at the end of the day, as if reluctant to leave. The sound of the greenfinch in the ash tree, singing … Continue reading A Prayer for the Living Earth
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, it is the time of year for holidays. I have written a prayer for safe holidays. May you have a restful and enjoyable time. Dear Lord,We thank You for this season of departure, when the suitcases are dragged from the loft and the satnav is dusted off. Thank You for the excitement that fills the house on the … Continue reading A Prayer for Safe Holidays
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I trust that you are well and healthy. In light of the suspected murder of Ann Widdecombe, the following prayer is apt: Dear Lord,We come before You in this golden month, when the earth is soft and the light is long, and we ask for the grace of peace. Not the peace of absence—the mere silence of guns … Continue reading A Prayer for Calm
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I trust that you are well. Today, I have written a short prayer for the quiet custodians of this land—the ones whose hands are chapped, whose backs are sore, and whose work so often goes unspoken. Dear Lord,We pray this July for the farmers who rise before the lark, whose first sight of the day is the mist … Continue reading A Prayer for Those Who Tend the Earth
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, the first of July is almost upon us, and the countryside has settled into that deep, drowsy hum that only high summer can bring. The days are long and warm, the evenings soft and slow, and there is a sense, across the fields and lanes at least, that the land is content. It has given its early abundance, … Continue reading A Prayer for July
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, today brings us Father’s Day, and I find myself thinking of fathers not as they appear in greeting cards or sentimental verse, but as they are in the real, unvarnished life of the British countryside. The father who rises before dawn to check the livestock. The father who mends the same gate for the third time and does … Continue reading A Prayer for Fathers on Their Day
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, by the time you read this, it will be June the fourteenth. The year is well into its stride, and the countryside knows it. The roses are in their first full flush, heavy and sweet, spilling over garden walls and along cottage porches. The meadows that were cut early for hay are showing a fresh green fuzz of … Continue reading A Prayer for a June Sunday
VICAR Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I trust this Sunday finds you settled into the gentle rhythm of high summer. The hay is in, thank God, or nearly so, and there is a particular stillness to the countryside at this time of year that no city can ever replicate. The wheat is turning from green to gold, the hedgerows are thick with bramble and … Continue reading A Prayer for the Grace of Ordinary Things
