Welcoming Spring - by Fr Patrick O'Shea

A tui, a native bird of New Zealand, enjoying nectar from a Kowhai Tree in Spring - Photo Canva

It is August, and the weather is wintery – windy with heavy rain, occasional hail and thunderstorms. But as the days gradually get longer our thoughts start to shift to spring. Spring is a magical time when trees put forth fresh buds, colour comes back into gardens and the temperature gradually rises. Birds, which had left during the winter months, start to return and newborn lambs frolic in the fields. With these changes comes a lift in people’s spirits making spring a season of new life and hope. We know that wintry conditions may not have totally gone but the general trend is upwards.

In the Celtic understanding the four major solar events of Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn are anticipated by each halfway point between them – the cross-quarter days of Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain. The cross-quarter day of Imbolc is a time to welcome longer days, prepare for the pending warmth and embrace the new life about to spring from the soil.

Seasons of the Celtic Year

Many cultures have special rites to celebrate spring. Spring cleaning seems to be an essential element of many these festivals. In Thailland the spring festival is called Songkran. To prepare for the holiday, the statues of Buddha are bathed with flower water, and houses are cleaned. The holiday Nowruz (Persian New Year) coincides with the first day of spring. The 13-day celebration traditionally involves cleaning (or "shaking the house") and spending time with family and friends. 

In Jewish custom, spring cleaning is linked to Passover in March or April, which marks the liberation of Jews from slavery in Egypt. Before the start of the holiday, a general cleaning takes place in order to remove any yeast bread, or chametz, from the home. Members of the Greek Orthodox church clean house for a week leading up to Lent. In the northern hemisphere Easter is celebrated in Spring and there are powerful resonances between what is happening in the natural world and the resurrection of Jesus.  

Spring has also inspired classical music like Vivaldi’s Spring, part of his 4 seasons work, and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.  More recent songs like “Here comes the sun” by the Beatles and Tulips from Amsterdam and many others also mark the arrival of Spring.

New life and warmth make us feel like singing a canticle to creation and a hymn of praise for the arrival of spring.

Prayer for Spring

O God, creator of all life,

be with us as we awaken to life anew in spring.

Help us to clean our homes and hearts so that we may enter more fully into a deeper relationship with you and all creation.

May we rejoice to see your creation come to life again and commit ourselves to caring for our planet and for the great diversity of life that lives on it.     

Amen 

Fr Patrick O'Shea lives and works in Lower Hutt, Aotearoa/New Zealand