The year that is fast coming to a close has once again been a very busy one for St Paul’s. We have been blessed in so many ways through acts of great generosity and kindness. Our sacred building has resounded with liturgical and artistic beauty provided by the Crypt Choir of the King’s School Canterbury, the Ristretto orchestra and choir from which the genius of Handel was conveyed, and the voices of the Swedish Lutheran Church on the Feast of St Lucia. On our Holy Days and seasons our singers under the guidance of Errol Girdlestone have offered prayerful adoration in Holy Week, Easter Day, on our Patronal Feast Day, at 9 Lessons and Carols alongside Evensong on the occasion of The King’s Accession Day, Armistice and All Soul’s. We are blessed with those who have made these possible. The Church pilgrimage to Ypres was a great privilege for all concerned during which fraternal fellowship was deepened. Visits were made by Canon Thomas of the Charterhouse in London, Brother Jude from the Community of the Resurrection in Mirfied, Roger Preece, Master of the Royal Foundation of St Katharine, the Bishop Suffragan of the Anglican Church in Europe, the Right Reverend Andrew Norman, and pupils from the Queen’s School, Chester. St Paul’s continues to be blessed with the support in our collective mission by the Princely Family for which we must be ever grateful and our relations with the Catholic Church in the Principality continue to grow through friendship and mutual support. Our service of the Principality has been expressed in numerous ways including the lodging of the historical documents of the Church in the national archive and a wonderfully happy occasion when the presentation of a Union Flag formally took place at the Maison de France, including speeches from the French Ambassador and the sound of the Highland Pipes as it was processed down the staircase. At a dinner held earlier in the year members of the Church also supported the Monaco Scouts in their very fine work, forging links with similar troops in Lancashire. The Damascus window was installed in chaplain’s vestry and restoration work on those on the south side undertaken. The British School of Monaco commissioned a proto cross and a centenary marble plinth, recording key historical moments was dedicated towards the end of the year. All manner of “small jobs” have been undertaken and again we must be very grateful indeed to those who have made them possible. Services of blessings following legal marriages, the confirmation of seven of our people took place at the Church of the Holy Trinity, Nice, Holy Baptism of both adults and children have been celebrated, alongside an increasing wish for funerals to take place according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England; all these are significant point of pastoral engagement. Much more could be said about the life of the Church in 2025, but I don’t want this to appear as an abstract from an AGM!
As we look back and as we look forward, we must always and in the first place thank God for his many blessings, “All things come you O God, and of your own do we give you.” It is crucial also to remind ourselves why we do what we do. The Church is not a club, but it is a fellowship whose primary calling is the worship of God in word and deed and live that out in society. With that in mind and trusting all things to God and his providence we move prayerfully and hopefully into 2026. Under God, there is much to look forward to. Wishing you all a blessed new year.
Chaplain.
Nine Lessons and Carols
On the evening of Sunday 14th December, St Paul’s Church was once again filled with people seeking to start their Christmas festivities with an uplifting spiritual and musical celebration of the Nativity, offering worship to God with an unmistakable English ‘flavour’…
Remembrance
Attendance at the Remembrance Sunday services grows and grows. This year was no exception to that important trend. Colonel Mary Cardwell and the Principal of the British School of Monaco read the Exhortation and Kohima. The lessons were read by Hope Swales and Russell Crump. Group Captain Andy Calame (The King’s Honorary Bodyguard) the Honorary President of the Provence – Monaco Branch of the Royal British Legion processed in with a Warship Union Flag that had been recently discovered in a garage in Nice, children form the British School presented Poppy posies and the sons of the French Ambassador did likewise with a beautiful display of Bluets. The children must be congratulated for their turn out, discipline and deportment in front of a packed Church…
Handel’s Messiah at St Paul’s
This year’s annual performance of Handel’s Messiah by the Ristretto Chamber Choir and Orchestra once again proved why it has become one of the most cherished musical traditions in the Principality. On Saturday, 29 November, St Paul’s Anglican Church was filled to capacity as music lovers gathered for what has long been an essential date in Monaco’s Advent calendar…
Confirmation
I was very fortunate to be confirmed recently during the Bishop of Gibraltar’s visit to our region. It was a deeply moving milestone, shared with fellow members of our congregation, but the journey to that moment began long ago.
For most of my life, the Church has been a constant backdrop. From my own baptism and Sunday School to the “big moments”—marriage, the baptism of our daughter, family weddings and funerals—the Church was always there…
Music Matters – The French Connection
The final item sung by the choir at our Nine Lessons and Carols this month, The Shepherd’s Farewell by Hector Berlioz, started life as an organ piece which the composer wrote for his friend, the renowned organist Joseph-Louis Duc.
Berlioz soon put it out as a choral composition, masquerading under the name of an imaginary 17th-century composer named Ducré.
Why? You may well ask. In fact, the music of Berlioz was disliked by many of his contemporaries and he is still sadly underestimated, even here in his native France. Ironically enough, a lady who notably despised him wrote à propos the aforementioned motet, “Berlioz would never be able to write a tune as simple and charming as this little piece by old Ducré .”
Eventually the “little piece by old Ducré” grew into a full-scale choral and orchestral composition entitled L’Enfance du Christ, a vividly dramatic oratorio. Having had the privilege of conducting L’Enfance on several occasions, I think I can vouch for the authenticity of its composer. In any event, if you enjoyed la petite dégustation, and have the opportunity to immerse yourself over the Christmas period in some of the most inspirational Nativity music ever written, I strongly recommend a performance featuring the phenomenal bari-tenor Michael Spyres, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner at St. Martin-in-the-Fields which can be accessed via the link below.
Crossword N°13 – by Patricia Cerrone
For this Christmastide edition of the Clarion, we have a suitably-themed puzzle – and a grid to match!
One thing to remember: the definition of the solution is always right at the beginning or right at the end of the clue. The rest of the clue leads to the letters which together form this answer. Sometimes there can be several hints, such as in 29 Across, where “small”, “salt-water” and “smoked herring” each stand for a part of the solution.
Here’s an example of this type of clue: Light reveals large and tailless sea-bird. (7).
This can be divided into the following sections: Light reveals/ large/and tailless/sea-bird.
LIGHT = definition. LARGE = the letter L (common abbreviation). AND TAILLESS = the word AND without the last letter. SEA-BIRD = in this case a TERN. Therefore the answer is LANTERN.
Look out for indications to single letters, which often are to be included or discarded……
Happy puzzling!
ACROSS
1. Seasonal joy enhanced by mulled wine for example (9,6)
8. Leaders of Urban Council involved in spiralling cost of decorated plasterwork (6)
9. Wise man arriving with snake in vehicle (6)
10. Discovered in parcel – esteemed musical instrument (7)
12. Boxing Day saint, commemorated as the first martyr (7)
14. Checked garment to display at Hogmanay? (4)
16. Gentle light over winter-garden initially produces soft radiance (4)
22. Loved appearing around noon, all decked-up (7)
23. Heavenly messenger joins you and me for thrice-daily devotion (7)
24. Drain earthwork (6)
25. Singing the right notes, in harmony (2,4)
26. Sacred depiction of holy mother with infant (7,3,5)
29. Small, salt-water, smoked herring appearing flamboyant (13)
DOWN
2. Stan – he is fumbling around in order to hurry up! (6)
3. Ends contract for items used by Santa Claus (5)
4. Low noise made by animal in crèche? (3)
5. Non-sweet alcohol produced by some sects (3)
6. Ski slope in Lauchernalp is terrifying (5)
7. “And he said – Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but ……..” [AV Gen: Ch.32] (6)
11. Majestic beast spotted finally in large animal park (3)
13. Somewhere to sit – sounds like new! (3)
15. Those too young to be guilty remembered on 28th December (9)
17. Instrument, originally in church and loosely relating to natural products (9)
18. Light-weight boxer – alternative manifestation of Batman? (6)
19. Variety of melon combining nectar and refreshing moisture (8)
20. Reference to Saul clashing with lion (8)
21. Endless descant anyway will rise high (6)
27. Vestment turning up in Blackpool! (3)
28. National Incomes Commission of 1963 reduced to basics (3)
Answers to Clarion Crossword N°12
ACROSS
1. JULIAN OF NORWICH 8. SQUADRON 9. SUMNER 10. PRECEDED 11. PENCIL 13. ACCEPTANCE 17. STALAGMITE 21. ASSAIL 22. (See 4 down) 23. ALMOND 24. ENDORSER 25. ECCLESIASTICISM
DOWN
1. JOSEPH 2. LAUREL 3. ANDREW 4. O COME O COME EMMANUEL 5. ROULETTE 6. INNOCENT 7. HERALDED 12. SENTIMENTS 14. ESCAPADE 15.BALSAMIC 16. RADIANCE 18. NAPOLI 19. MUESLI 20. ALARUM
