The purpose of the Church is the worship and work of God. The German Benedictine, Sieger Koeder expressed this in his painting of Jesus washing his disciple’s feet, a copy of which hangs in my vestry and is used during our liturgy in Church on Good Friday in Holy Week. It reveals Jesus demonstrating a new way of living and serving our families, our friends, our colleagues, and even our enemies. For one hundred years St Paul’s has, under God, been given a privileged position from which she has been able to serve the Principality throughout those many changing seasons. So when we reflect upon the many aspects of Church life over the past couple of months, we must hold this thought in our mind. Everything that we undertake is for God. We do this through natural points of engagement and the faith and what it means to try and live a Christian life, through the beauty of music, the solemnity of Remembrance, through the visits of Bishops and Venerables, in Prayer Bears despatched throughout the world, in support of the homeless and the hungry via Harvest collections, in our fraternal relationships with other denominations and in acts of kindness, generosity and genuine concern for others. Every time we come into Church we pass a maquette of St Devote, a generous gift from His Serene Highness, Prince Albert. Her figure is pointed towards Jesus portrayed in the stained glass in the east end. She is a constant reminder of the trajectory of our lives – towards Jesus the Servant King, trying our best to emulate his teaching and example in our lives. Advance!
Fr Hugh
Centenary Pilgrimage to Ypres
The church, as it now stands on 22 avenue de Grande Bretagne, was gifted to the Church of England by Prince Louis II in 1925, in recognition of the immense sacrifice made by Great Britain in the First World War. Three members of the community at St Paul’s devised the idea therefore of leading an expeditionary pilgrimage to the Ypres Battlefields to commemorate our centenary…
King’s School Canterbury – Crypt Choir
Over the weekend of October 18th/19th St Paul’s welcomed former members of the Crypt Choir of the King’s School Canterbury, under the School’s Director of Music, Will Bersey. This was the third visit to St Paul’s of members and former members of the Choir over the past thirteen years. The first part of the concert on the Saturday evening was a selection of religious and secular works, including George Dyson’s Magnificat in F, Charles Villiers Stanford’s Nunc Dimittis in B flat, Never Weather-Beaten Sail by Richard Shepherd and Ubi Caritas by David Briggs…
Bishop Andrew Norman
It was a great joy to have the newly consecrated Bishop Suffragan for the diocese in Europe with us over the weekend when the Crypt Choir from Canterbury were here. Accompanied by his wife Amanda, he was able to meet members of the Church Council over lunch in St Paul’s House, which was expertly provided by Mrs Gabi Crump…
Royal Foundation of St Katherine
A group of St Paul’s parishioners were in for a real treat on Friday 24th October at the Vicarage, where we received the customary warm welcome and hospitality. We were privileged to meet the Ven Roger Preece, Master of the Royal Foundation of St Katherine, and learn from him the history and work of this ancient charitable organisation…
Music Matters – The young and talented
November will be a busy musical month for the church, with the service of Remembrance on the 9th, and Choral Evensong (Armistice) on the 11th, in addition to rehearsals for Messiah which we will be giving on the 29th, followed the very next morning by the first Sunday in Advent.
The past month of October was marked by the visit of the King’s School Canterbury Crypt Choir, a Saturday evening concert and Sunday morning Communion, both of which certainly left their mark. Encouraging young and talented musicians is something of supreme importance, and in that particular context we are grateful to the generous initiative of Simon Groom.
Talking of Simons, we welcome once again Simon Bailey, our peerless bass soloist for Messiah. Simon has been singing major roles in the world’s top opera houses for some years, but when I first knew him, he was a naughty boy in the back row of the chorus at the European Union Opera in Baden Baden. He sat next to an equally naughty Roland Wood, now one of England’s leading baritones, and I can assure you that as chorusmaster I had my time cut out keeping the pair of them in order.
Another talented singer, our very own Felicity, will be singing the soprano solos in Messiah this year, and we welcome for the first time a young student from Trinity Laban Conservatoire, London, Imogen Woodhead, to sing the alto solos.
I mentioned John Keble in a recent issue and, as it happens, we were in the Chapel of the Oxford college bearing his name only last week, listening to the choir of the not-so-long-ago-created Keble choral foundation rehearsing music by Stanford and Sir William Harris. As we were in the first week of Michaelmas Term – the first of the academic year – about a third of the choral scholars were freshers still finding their feet, a real pleasure to watch and hear!
Crossword N°12 – by Patricia Cerrone
Each year we celebrate All Saints’ Day on 1st November and, to commemorate that date, this puzzle contains the names of several worthy people from Biblical times up to the 20th century.
In addition, look out for clues where the sound of the letters/words is important. These are known as vocal clues, and are explained in the tips for crossword N°5 (July 2024), if you want to check.
There is also a clue with the suggestion that a word goes “up”. As this is a DOWN clue, it refers to putting a word backwards.
A peek at our current hymnbook will be useful too!
ACROSS
1. East Anglian mystic who wrote “Revelations of Divine Love” (6,2,7)
8. Young Ronald joins group in Air Force unit (8)
9. Founder of The Mothers’ Union – Mary ___________ [1828-1921] (6)
10. Went ahead and sowed grain in advance, you could say (8)
11. Popular writer taking lead (6)
13. Agreement to be in favour of a new Anglican church (10)
17. Natural spire relocated at glam site (10)
21. Strike what sounds like a deal (6)
22. See 4 Down
23. Hard fruit mentioned in psalm on deliverance (6)
24. He sanctions distribution of red rose around North (8)
25. Clergyman joins International School of Monaco, showing attachment to religious observances (15)
DOWN
1. Josh holding record for most well-known Biblical father (6)
2. Hardy’s evergreen companion (6)
3. Wander around seeking patron saint (6)
4 and 22Ac. Hymn written for Advent, by J. M. Neale (1,4,1,4,8)
5. Way to include permit for gambling game (8)
6. Guilt-free name taken by thirteen popes (8)
7. Announced by trumpeter, little Edmund (8)
12. Emotional feelings, being vaguely smitten with elegant new suitor initially (10)
14. Run away, clutching advertisement, on mischievous adventure (8)
15. Type of vinegar accompanying clams Abi prepared (8)
16. “What sudden __________ from afar” [Hymn N°100 A&M] (8)
18. Rediscovered opal in Italian city (6)
19. Breakfast dish makes you, we hear, smile wryly (6)
20. Mural is hung up after a considerable fuss (6)
Answers to Clarion Crossword N°11
ACROSS
1. CHAPEL 4. AGATHA 10. NUMBERS 11. EBONIST 12. INNS 13. WINCHESTER 15. MARY MAGDALEN 18. WEDDING RITES 23. PARTITIONS 24. LEAH 26. SKILLET 27. INFIDEL 28. STEADY 29. PRIEST
DOWN
1. CONFIRMS 2. ALMONERS 3. EDEN 5. GOOSEBERRY 6. THIRTY 7. ALTARS 8. ASKING 9. MERCIA 14. IMPERILLED 16. ATTENDEE 17. ESCHALOT 19. DAINTY 20. NUNCIO 21. SPASMS 23. PRAISE 25. AFAR
