1 September
"Daddy?" Asked Carol Anne, "Why is today called 'The Church's New Year'?"
"Long ago", Daddy replied. "When God created the universe He began in the Autumn. Later when He gave instructions to the ancient Hebrews, He told them to start their year in the Autumn in memory of that first great miracle. When the Church looked for a place to begin her calendar, she looked in the Autumn. Since the world didn't use the same calendar as the ancient Hebrews, a new start date was picked - and that's today. Tonight when we go to Church you'll hear prayers for God to bless our crops and all the actions in the new year."
"Oh!" exclaimed Carol Anne. "I know those prayers. They talk about the 'crown of the year'".
"Yes, that's right." Daddy smiled. "We pray that what starts out with God's blessings will continue the same way." Carol Anne thought for a moment.
"It seems strange, though, to begin the year just when all the foods are being harvested on farms. It seems like the end of the year, not the begining."
Daddy said, "True but what comes at the end?"
Carol Anne was silent again. Suddenly the little girl gasped. "The begining!"