Articles

Articles Archive

 

News From the Churches

Easter at the two churches was well and truly celebrated. We were fortunate to have most of our services taken by Revd. Diane Clark who brought joy to our celebrations. At St. Giles the Maundy Thursday service was shorter than in former years, but still reverential. At St. Margaret’s the children enjoyed their traditional Easter Egg hunt round the church. And for the Black Horse Sermon we were privileged to be led by the Revd. Tom Smith, from London Colney, who captured the spirit of the occasion perfectly. His use of a pint of beer to illustrate the Good Friday message was appreciated by all who attended in both bars. We offer thanks to Renata for Hot Cross Buns and for hosting this unique event so well.

We continue to be well served by visiting priests, who have been helping us maintain regular worship despite the fact that we still do not have a permanent Vicar. At the suggestion of the Bishop we will be reviewing the Parish Profile, the document sent to priests who consider making an application for the post. Hopefully with help we can present ourselves in more attractive ways.

Meanwhile in May we welcome the Revd. Tony Richardson, Chaplain at Aldenham School, who will be taking services at both churches on two Sundays May.

 

THE JUDAS TREE

This year the tree that grows by the porch of St. Giles Church in South Mymms has put on a riot of blossom. Several people have asked me if it is a cherry tree, and if not what is it? As the title of this piece says, it’s a Judas Tree.

I’ve known about these for much of my life, as there was one growing by the gate of my grandparents’ house in Eltham, (then in Kent). So when my Mother moved to live near us in the 1990’s, she chose to plant one in her garden, in memory of her parents. Sadly it is now overshadowed by other trees, and does not seem to have blossomed this year, unlike St. Giles’ tree, which gets the full sunshine and is on the south side of the church.

You can see it’s not a cherry. Its flowers are a deeper pink, they grow directly off the branches, not on clusters of stalks, and they are shaped a bit like pea flowers: indeed the tree belongs to the botanical family (fabaceae) which includes peas. It comes from the Middle East, but is now found also in Spain and elsewhere in Europe.

It was named the Tree of Judah (Judaea) in the 16th century, and the reference to Judas probably comes from this. But it is also said to be the tree from which Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, hanged himself in shame after he realised the scale of his wrong-doing when had sold his master to the Chief Priests and Pharisees for thirty pieces of silver. According to legend, this is why Jesus’ blood turned the flowers of the tree bright red. Another explanation is that the flowers and seed pods hang directly from the branch, symbolising the method of his suicide.

The tree by the church door was planted in about 1985 by the last full-time Vicar, Revd. Robert Gage. Quite how well aware he was of the symbolism, Judas the Betrayer, I do not know. He was mainly concerned to plant trees to beautify the churchyard, and also as a weapon in the fight against climate change. Sadly not all his planting survived. Some trees in the far south of the churchyard by the Mausoleum died off, probably being starved of light by the huge trees growing around them.

Meanwhile the Judas Tree puts on its magnificent display in the middle of Spring, shedding it flowers like confetti all round the church door.

William Marsterson                                                                                        May 2026