Dear People & Friends of St. Clement’s,
Yes – I’m back from being on holiday/vacation and looking forward to seeing those of you who are still in Prague, this coming Sunday morning at 11.00 at St. Clement’s. I’m also off to Brno in the evening, this Sunday being the Second Sunday of the month.
I’m most grateful to everyone who helped keep St. Clement’s going whilst I was away, especially Rev’d Dr Karen Moritz & Jack Noonan. There respective sermons from Sunday 30th June & Sunday 7th July, have now been uploaded to our website, as has the sermon by Rev’d Dr Peter Walker from Sunday 23rd June. All three can be accessed by following this link
My thanks as always to David Hellam, for his technical wizardry in recording off the Church sound system & to Sybille as webmaster, for then uploading them to the website. I’m looking forward to listening myself, to both Karen & Jack’s sermons, very shortly.
Several of you were asking about where Sybille & I were going for our holidays. We spent the first nine days in the Orlické hory – the ‘Eagle Mountains’ being the literal translation. We stayed first in the small settlement that bears my name, Říčky v Orlických horách, and then in the nearby town of Rokytnice v Orlických horách. Once the rain of the first three days had ceased, we had a most enjoyable walking holiday. I’ve written a couple of posts on my blog, about our time away, to which I hope to add when I have some spare moments in the coming days.
After returning to Prague on Tuesday 2nd July, the following day, I flew to England to visit my two adult children. Last Sunday morning, I had what might be best described as a ‘busman’s holiday’, preaching at two services in the parishes of Wilby & Great Doddington, near Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, on behalf of ICS. It was wonderful to meet people who regularly pray for us in Prague, who recognised me from the picture that appears in the ‘ICS News & Prayer Diary’ & who were so pleased to meet me in the flesh!
Before flying back to Prague from Luton Airport last Monday evening, I spent a few hours in nearby St. Albans, and re-visited the Cathedral & Abbey Church of St. Alban, where I was ordained deacon 24 years ago and ordained priest a year later. It was wonderful to be able to spend time there in private prayer and also attend Evensong.
Looking ahead – whilst we are currently in ‘summer mode’ at present, there still will be a Sung Eucharist each Sunday at 11.00 during the rest of July & August, followed by Cool Refreshments served at the back of Church. So if you are in Prague, make sure you join us. Do check carefully regarding public transport, which is massively disrupted at present with repairs to various tramlines. The DPP website is your friend!
Mentioning ICS, copies of a new edition of ICS News & Prayer Diary came in whilst we were away & will be available free, at the back of Church this Sunday.
One final note for this week. Last Monday, some of you may have received an email, purporting to come from Jack Noonan, saying he had been attacked & robbed in Cyprus. Rest assured, Jack was not in Cyprus or attacked & robbed. Unfortunately, he had his email account hacked & his address book used to send out that email. Some of you may remember that a very similar thing happened to Caroline Studdert a couple of years ago. Please, whatever you do, don’t reply to the email or send any money to the Western Union account the hacker suggests.
Best wishes
Ricky
