Stir Up Sunday
Preserved but no longer current.
The last Sunday in Trinity. So called from the first two words of the collect. "Stir up, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the wills of Thy faithful people . . .". It was an old custom to stir the Christmas plum pudding on this day, hence the old schoolboy rhyme beginning, "Stir up, we beseech thee, the pudding in the pot.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Stir Up Sunday” mean?
The last Sunday in Trinity. So called from the first two words of the collect. "Stir up, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the wills of Thy faithful people . . .". It was an old custom to stir the Christmas plum pudding on this day, hence the old schoolboy rhyme beginning, "Stir up, we beseech thee, the pudding in the pot.
Is “Stir Up Sunday” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.