A picture for Advent

This beautiful stained glass window depicting a nativity scene is most suitable for Advent.

We discovered it today in St Mary's Church, Bury St Edmunds. Originally dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but since the Reformation simply known as St Mary's, it stands on a site where a church has stood for 900 years.

This was originally part of the Benedictine Abbey of St Edmund, one of three churches built into the Abbey precincts, and is now the Civic Church of the Town and Borough.

St Mary's was enlarged in the 15th century, making it one of the largest parish churches in England, with (at 213 feet) the longest nave.

A tomb contains the remains of Mary Tudor, Queen of France and Duchess of Suffolk - the sister of Henry VIIIth and whose name he gave to the warship Mary-Rose.
Queen Victoria donated another stained glass window depicting the story of Mary Tudor's betrothal and wedding to the King of France, her widowhood and subsequent return home with Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.

The church contains a beautiful, ornate Cenotaph commemorating those men of the Suffolk Regiment who gave their lives in World War One.
The Regimental Suffolk Chapel is now also that of the Royal Anglian Regiment.

Bury St Edmund's is, we discovered today, a beautiful and fascinating place that we have resolved to re-visit and explore thoroughly.