HOPES that angels will be joining festive lights in windows and gardens in Pembrokeshire this month are being voiced by a county clergywoman.

Rev Shirley Murphy, the assistant curate of Narberth, is urging people to put up pictures or models of the celestial beings to bring their reassuring presence to the end of a year overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic

Many of the town’s windows are already decorated with rainbows, after Rainbow Fairy Diana Brook created the colourful tributes to the NHS.

And now it’s the turn of the angels, said Rev Shirley, whose churches include Templeton, Robeston Wathen and Minwear.

“We followed the rainbows to find hope, so this Christmas season, let us follow the angels to bring comfort and joy,” she said.

Despite Christmas carols having to be played via CD because of the current ban on public singing, St Andrew’s Church in Narberth is holding a Seven Lessons and Carols service this Sunday, December 13, and a Nine Lessons and Carols service on Sunday December 20.

The Sunday before Christmas will also see a Blue Christmas service at St John’s Church, Templeton.

Explained Rev Shirley:

“This is a service for all those who are hurting during Christmas due to the loss of loved ones, financial loss, job loss or any other pain or hurt.

“It's a service of healing to bring joy, comfort and love into their hearts and usher them that there is light in spite of all the darkness around them.”

There will also be Christmas Eve services at St Andrew’s Church and St John’s.

Rev. Shirley added: “Unfortunately, due to the 30 numbers we are asking people to contact us to let us know beforehand if you would like to join us in these services,as we do not want to break any of the Covid rules and regulations.

She sent out a December message to reassure people that Christmas is not cancelled, despite the restrictions on normal festivities.

She said: “The Christmas story shows us what love looks like. It reminds us that however gloomy circumstances might be, where there is God there is always hope. So have a wonder-filled Christmas season.

“Sometimes I find the ways we traditionally celebrate Christmas to be out of sync with what it is that we are seeking to remember. Celebrating a child born in poverty by eating and drinking to excess and spending money we can’t afford on gifts that people don’t need seems a little strange.

“This year, we have an opportunity, if we want to, to dial it down a little, to focus on the story, which whether you believe it to be true (as I do) or understand it as a myth, urges us to be the best people we can be.

“People who care for others, who see the value in those society overlooks, people who recognise that connecting with something bigger than ourselves is important, people who take the most difficult of circumstances and make something truly beautiful. Resilient people who rely on God.

“For many people this year, Christmas will be different. Many families have lost their loved ones, and many of them have lost jobs and don't have enough to feed their loved ones.

“It is during this time we need to be a good neighbour and help those in need. Whether we are believers or not, we proclaim the universal message of the need for peace on earth. Peace is not just the absence of conflict and war. Each of us has some responsibility to create at least some of that peace in our own lives and neighbourhood.

“These are the ‘hopes and fears’ we focus on at Christmas.”