Charles Dickens, English writer, wrote some of the most beloved and quoted literature in the English language. Almost everyone is familiar with his Christmas classic,

A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas,

better known as  A Christmas Carol,

which has been portrayed on stage and film – even animated versions.

What would Christmas be without Ebenezer Scrooge showing up in some form or another?

Dickens also wrote

Another Dickens book created the name for a medical condition –

Pickwickian syndrome: The combination of obesity, somnolence (sleepiness), hypoventilation (underbreathing), and plethoric (red) face.

The syndrome is so named because of the “fat and red-faced boy in a state of somnolency” that Charles Dickens described in his novel, The Pickwick Papers. (The same boy is thought by some experts possibly to have had the Prader-Willi syndrome).

Dickens may have been the “first celebrity medical spokesman.” 

 Dickens delivered a rousing speech on the plight of ill children and the need to support the children’s hospital. As an extra bonus, the author threw in a reading of his beloved “A Christmas Carol.” The journalist T.A. Reed, said of Dickens’ performance that night, “I never heard him, or reported him, with so much pleasure … his speech was magnificent.”

pbs.org

What is Advent?

The season of Advent, which comes comes from the Latin word adventus meaning “coming” or “visit,” begins four Sundays before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve. Advent is the beginning of the liturgical year for Christians. [Liturgical — from liturgy, which means the forms and functions of public worship.]

Many families observe Advent with Bible readings, lighting candles, songs, and stories to remind them of the events leading up to the birth of Christ as told in the New Testament. (these are affiliate links for you to consider and help support this blog with a commission on any purchases you make while reviewing)

sharing the HEART of Advent

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Dr Aletha