It seems remarkable that the Chaplaincy Family has now celebrated its second Christmas at St Paul’s.
This has been a very busy year with enormous activity within the Church as it explores both new and established ways of serving the Principality. As we come to the end of 2024, we must look back with prayerful thankfulness for the many, and sometimes surprising, ways in which God has blessed us. With that in mind we can look forward with confidence and faith that He will continue to bless us on our way, and in whatever direction He may lead us.
The image of the Holy Family having to flee to Egypt in order to escape the wrath of Herod reveals to us just how much we must trust God in all things. Our Lady and St Joseph were entrusted with the responsibility for a great treasure. It was not an object upon which a price tag could be fixed but the life of a small baby, the Infant King of Kings, God Incarnate, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
At St Paul’s we too have been entrusted with the care of a great treasure. It is the Gospel message of God’s love for this, our very broken world. It is a treasure that we must give away every day in acts of kindness, forgiveness, thoughtfulness, tolerance, generosity, in opening and extending the circle of friendship, in laughter and fun.
May I wish everyone a very blessed and holy Christmas and a hopeful and faithful 2025. Advance!
Fr Hugh
Remembrance
The Remembrance Service at St Paul’s was well attended and a fitting tribute to both the fallen of the two World Wars and to all those men and women who have served and sacrificed in the defence of liberty and democracy…
CWG Bordighera
On Tuesday 12th November, Monaco members of the RBL took part in a poignant ecumenical service at the CWG at Bordighera. Tim Morley the Nice-Monaco Standard Bearer was meticulous, the Honorary British Consul to Monaco, Eric Blair laid a wreath alongside various others. The cemetery itself contains 72 Commonwealth burials…
Nine Lessons and Carols
On Sunday the 15th of December St Paul’s Anglican Church in Monte Carlo held its traditional 9 Lessons and Carols service in the presence of Their Serene Highnesses Prince Albert and Princess Charlene, in a church that was full to standing room only…
Prayer Bears
To celebrate St Paul’s centenary year, we’ve teamed up with Warmies® to create Prayer Bears: an adorable bear, made from the highest quality materials, with a natural buckwheat filling that can be a source of either warm or cool comfort, and is scented with soothing lavender. The funds raised from the Prayer Bears campaign will help worthy causes in the region. You can get your own Prayer Bear to support the campaign by clicking the button below.
Kermesse
In a delightful twist of social graces or perhaps just sheer festive enthusiasm, this season’s Kermesse turned into an event already being fondly remembered as “The Day of Merriment.” It wasn’t your usual bake sale, friends. Alongside the charming offerings of banana cake, biscuits…
Wreath Laying
In line with his well-known passionate commitment to the Act of Remembrance, Fr Hugh spearheaded a research programme at St Anselm Hall in the University of Manchester in 2019. With undergraduate and postgraduate support the biographies of those listed on the War Memorial in the Hall Chapel were researched and the final work was entitled, “Floreat – The Fallen”…
Christingle
Sunday School enjoyed a busy Advent season, learning about the preparations for Christmas and key people in the story of Jesus’ birth. We also made a herd of donkeys and learnt the words to the song Little Donkey…
Music Matters – By Errol Girdlestone
Quite the worst alto
This year we celebrate the anniversaries of significant figures in the story of Anglican church music and so we can look forward to a rich selection of musical treasures.
Starting 500 years ago with the Italian Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (born 1525), who was just nine years old at the time of the Church of England’s foundation, and whose influence inspired Byrd, Tallis, Gibbons, Morley, Weelkes, Fayrfax, and the other Renaissance composers who helped establish the Anglican music liturgy.
Italian influence was considerable at the time and affected many spheres of life – Shakespeare himself would not have existed as a playwright had it not been for the commedia dell’arte, not to mention the English architects of the period such as Inigo Jones, who brought Italian classical architecture into the UK.
Then 400 years ago on June 5th 1625, Orlando Gibbons died. On this anniversary his music is performed during Evensong at King’s College, Cambridge where Gibbons was an undergraduate. Gibbons’ verse-anthem “This is the record of John” Is often selected; this and the 8-voice motet O clap your hands together are both well known in the Anglican musical repertoire.
One of the most memorable performance of Gibbons’ anthem connects this ancient thread of music to modern choral groups and even to St Paul’s, Monaco. “This is the record of John” features a rather demanding solo which a dear friend of mine, Alastair Hume (founder member of the King’s Singers) had to perform. The then Director of Music, David Willcocks, waited until Al had finished before pronouncing his final verdict, “Mr. Hume, you are quite the worst alto we have ever had in this choir”. A claim to fame if ever there were one, which Al duly quotes in his autobiography.
Just for the record, Al, who is also a professional double-bass player, has on two occasions driven all the way down through France from his home in Islington, trundling his double-bass, plus wife, in order to play in the orchestra for our Messiah at St. Paul’s – wife Di joining us in the choir.
David Willcocks (died 2015) became a legendary figure during his time at King’s, not only for his abrasive comments about choristers, but equally for his punctilious attention to both intonation and diction, setting exemplary standards for all English choirs to follow, including the Bach Choir, from which several members have joined us singing Messiah over the years.
Last, but not least on the list, John Rutter (born 1945) who collaborated with David Willcocks on Book 2 of the celebrated Carols for Choirs collection, contributing many of his own arrangements and original compositions. Our musical selections during St Paul’s Nine Lessons and Carols on 15 December celebrated this illustrious partnership.
I look forward to sharing some of the Church’s most inspiring and important music during 2025.
Crossword N°7 – by Patricia Cerrone
One common clue type we haven’t talked about is the reversal clue. This can be indicated by various words or phrases – about, around, going back, returning. For example:
Look around part of castle (4). To look is to “peek”; put that “around” and you get KEEP.
However, if the reversal occurs in a Down clue, you might see “turning up” or even “going North” to guide you in the right direction!
There are so many words in crossword lingo which represent single letters and we should look at a few more here: D = 500, daughter, dead or died, penny. W = West, wicket, wide, width, wife, with.
L = 50, lake, Latin, learner, left, length, line, pound.
The first letter of a word can also be referred to as a “bit”, and occasionally you’ll see “leading pairs, duos” etc, meaning the first two letters of the following word or words.
ACROSS
1. Worshippers providing type of ongoing care, having time (12)
9. Paperwork indicates chaotic Rio welcomes return of Three Kings (7)
10. Gulp down a bird (7)
11. Wasps not with snakes (4)
12. Do rickshaws possess architectural style? (5)
13. Cautious of road orbiting capital of Rwanda (4)
16. Leading singers employed in descant or solo work (7)
17. Good old Peter, producing money-making dish (4,3)
18. Young Edward looked after little Henry and was appreciated (7)
21. Belief that turbulent simian male has a soul (7)
23. Son of Ruth receives award and medal, but no food (4)
24. Excitement caused by aromatic powder?
25. “It came ______ the midnight clear” [A&M LXX] (4)
28. Installs in new parish – by means of pipes? (7)
29. Ice does melt. See! (7)
30. Music for start of liturgical year – sung by girls? (6,6)
DOWN
1. Patron saint of shoemakers, commemorated in October (7)
2. Rhino a handful, hemming in conservationist (4)
3. Decayed US uni collapses into bits of orange rubble (7)
4. Young bird being encouraged to warble around lake (7)
5. Speed-loving pond-dweller of literary repute (4)
6. Carried by virgin, according to St Matthew (3,4)
7. Adherent of Papal doctrine (5,8)
8. Abroad, confused Ian reverses German syllables in Christmas hymn (4,2,1,6)
14. Reserves passages of the Bible (5)
15. “Every valley shall be exalted…….and the rough places _____” [AV Isaiah 40] (5)
19. Changed Last Word before start of discussion with editor (7)
20. Hastily I posted down-payment (7)
21. First couples at archdeaconry caper discover a pastoral paradise (7)
22. Simpers, looking silly, intending to create an effect (7)
26. Tract of land former cartographer has written about (4)
27. Triggering pony owner’s love of sport (4)
Answers to crossword N° 6
ACROSS
1. & 9. COME, YE THANKFUL PEOPLE, COME 10. BLOC 12. EARNT 13. RELIGIOUS 14. LEECHES 16. DIADEMS 18. RUSTLES 20. MEANING 22. VICTORIAN 24. TRIBE 25. REAL 26. IMMACULATE 27. DOMINICAN ORDER.
DOWN
2. ODOURLESS 3. ECLAT 4. ESCORTS 5. HUMBLED 6. FOLIO 7. LOCUSTS 8. APPEAL 11. IGUANA 15. HOLD ON 17. ELIMINATE 18. REVERED 19. SEISMIC 20. MONDAIN 21. GRETEL 23. CHARM 24. TRUER
