On Low Sunday I asked for prayers for my friend Father Hugh Bearn who was to be licensed as the Anglican chaplain in Monte Carlo that afternoon. I quoted part of an entry in the diary of Canon Alan Don which refers to the chaplaincy in the 1930’s. Out of interest the full entry is quoted below.
Extract from ‘Faithful Witness’ The Confidential Diaries of Alan Don, Chaplain to the King, the Archbishop and the Speaker, 1931-1946. Edited by Robert Beaken
Don refers to the Reverend Canon Albert Tupper Carey who was Anglican chaplain at Monte Carlo, 1930-1940.
Sunday, July 10th 1932
Tupper-Carey was also there (at lunch), as buoyant as ever. He now ministers to all the roués of Europe at Monte Carlo and enjoys it thoroughly. He says that his congregation consists of charming people, utterly ignorant of the Christian faith, who are warmhearted and very appreciative and expansive – who insist upon believing in the literal accuracy of the Old Testament and see red when prayers are offered for Gandhi, Lord Irwin and such like or when they are asked to give a penny to ‘missions’. But they ask Tupper to lunch, pay him a fat salary, come to his services and swear by the good old Church of England as by law Established. Tupper is just the man to deal with them, they would break the heart of anyone less effervescent.
I wonder what people might write about us in their diaries! It might be worth reflecting during the octave of Pentecost upon the impression we give to other people, both as individuals and as a congregation. As Christians we claim to have the presence and support of the Holy Spirit whose purpose is to help us to be like Jesus, to lead us to the truth and to empower us for witness and service. Does this claim bear examination?
If we are to begin to know where we stand in these matters we must take note of our private prayer and ask ourselves whether it is the basis of a developing relationship with God which is bringing us to Christian maturity. Is our confidence in God rooted in our life of prayer, by which I mean the time we spend in silence before him and the time we spend meditating upon the scriptures? In the Spirit, confidence in God is always more than just confidence in the ‘Church of England as by law Established’ – it is a direct confidence in God which makes the relationship not just established but ‘live’.
We must also take note of our corporate life, both our worship and our fellowship. If we are truly to give glory to God in our worship and the celebration of the sacraments then it must be the Holy Spirit who inspires us. At the same time the Spirit enables us to gather together during and after worship with people of ‘all sorts and conditions’ who share comparable experiences and aims under God. As I have said many times in the context of on-line worship during the 2020 lock-downs, the critical benefit of gathering for worship is that we do so with people we might not otherwise meet, but who share the same Spirit with us.
Dare we also speak of ‘holiness’? Bishop Norman mentioned to me after his recent visit that there was a wonderful atmosphere in church and I think he was right. This means that there is something good and attractive about our worship and our fellowship, something that is honouring to God and compelling to those who join us on a Sunday morning. This is the work of the Spirit and a foundation of holiness. Clearly we are the people of God meeting together. May this be a source of joy for us and for others…and should we appear in a diary entry at some point may that joy be at the heart of it!
From the diary
Sunday 28th May, Whit Sunday
Wednesday 31st May, 10.00am Mass
Friday 2nd June, 7.00pm no service
Sunday 4th June, Trinity Sunday
Wednesday 7th June, 10.00am Mass
Friday 9th June, 7.00pm Mass (St. Colomba, Abbot)
Sunday 11th June, Trinity 1
In addition to services at 8am and 9.30am: Family Service at 11.15am
Wednesday 14th June, 10.00am Mass
Friday 16th June, 7.00pm Mass
Sunday 18th June, Trinity 2
Wednesday 21st June, 10.00am Mass
Friday 23rd June, 7.00pm no service
Sunday 25th June, Trinity 3
Wednesday 28th June, 10.00am Mass (St. Irenaeus, Bishop)
Friday 30th June, 7.30pm, Anniversary Mass at Marsh Farm
Saturday 1st July, 12 noon Patronal Festival for the Feast of St. Peter
Sunday 2nd July, Trinity 4
In addition to services at 8am and 9.30am: Family Service at 11.15am
no mid-week services
Sunday 9th July, Trinity 5
8.00am no service
9.30am Parish Mass, (Father Leslie Drake SSC)
no mid-week services
Sunday 16th July, Trinity 6
8.00am no service
9.30am Parish Mass (Father Mike Still)
Prayer Focus
Pray for all those who are new to St. Peter’s and for a deepening fellowship amongst us.
Image by Preslie Hirsch on Unsplash