Dear People & Friends of St. Clements,
As promised last week, this week’s ‘Weekly Message’ is going out a day earlier than usual, not least because tomorrow, Friday 28th October, is a public holiday here in the Czech Republic, celebrating the 93rd anniversary of the declaration of an independent Czechoslovakia by Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk in the final days of the First World War on 28th October 1918. I do know that some of you on my circulation list, only pick up your email when you are at work so I must get this out rapidly if you are to read it before the weekend!
The Week Ahead……
Sunday 30th October at 11.00 – Joint Anglican – Old Catholic Eucharist at St. Clement’s
This year, it is once again our turn to host our annual joint service with the Old Catholics. The service will be in both Czech & English with an Order of Service in both languages. The celebrant and preacher will be Bishop Dušan Hejbal, the bishop of the Old Catholic Church in the Czech Republic. Following the service, there will be coffee/tea/cool drinks served, together with other light refreshments, in the hall on the third floor of Klimentská 18.
If at all possible, please can people bring a plate of finger food or something similar, which can be shared with our Old Catholic visitors as well as the regular Anglican congregation. Those of you who came to the joint service last year in the Old Catholic Cathedral on Petrin Hill, will remember that we were presented with a very generous spread of post-service refreshments on that occasion! We should reciprocate!
An important reminder – the night before this service, the clocks go back one hour! We all get an extra hour in bed as we move from Central European Summer Time (CEST) to Central European Time (CET).
A little note of explanation
The Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht, of which the Czech Old Catholic Church is a member, have been in full communion with the Church of England & the member Churches of the Anglican Communion, since the Bonn Agreement of 1931. In other words, each Church recognises the validity of each others ministers and sacraments.
The term ‘Old Catholic‘ in English, does confuse people sometimes. Only this week when meeting a British-Czech couple about their proposed wedding next year, I was asked about it. The problem arises first over the word ‘catholic’, which has rather been usurped by the Roman Catholic Church. It means universal just as we say in the Nicene Creed that we believe in ‘one holy catholic and apostolic Church’. Secondly ‘old’ ought better to be understood as ‘early’ or ‘original’. The Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht were formed after the First Vatican Council of 1870 which amongst other things declared the infallibility of the Pope when speaking Ex Cathedra which they rightly believed to be a departure from the early or original doctrine of the catholic or universal Church.
If you want to know more this Wikipedia article & the website of the Old Catholic Churches will tell you more.
Tuesday 1st November – All Saints Day; 6.30-8.00pm in the small meeting room on the first floor of Klimentská 18
I will celebrate an Informal Eucharist around the table to mark this important date in the Christian calendar. It is interesting to note that in every surrounding country, the day is a public holiday but not in the somewhat irreligious Czech Republic! It is a day when we do give thanks for all the saints who have gone before us. As part of our worship next Tuesday, I will encourage any of those present to give thanks for the life of someone who has helped you in your journey of faith & may be say a few words about them.
Sunday 6th November at 11.00am – Sung Eucharist for the Third Sunday before Advent
There will be Children’s Ministry and the service will be followed by Coffee Hour in the hall on the third floor of Klimentská 18.
Finally for this week…..
A reminder of our St. Clement’s Christmas Cards. The cards come in packs of 10 with one design per pack: there are 2 designs available. The cards are in English and the inside contains text to the effect that the cards are sold to support St. Clement’s and includes our web address. They are exceptionally good value at only 200 CZK for a pack of 10. They will be available for sale after the service this Sunday & following Sundays. If you can take packs to sell on to others, then please do so by signing the list at the back of Church to say how many packs you’ve taken.
Looking forward to seeing many of you in Church this coming Sunday but don’t forget to adjust your clock the night before!
Best wishes
Ricky
