By Ricky, on February 2nd, 2015 A Prague tram with two flags, celebrating a Czech public holiday © Ricky Yates
This is a post that I’ve been compiling in my mind for quite some time. So with Valentine’s Day being less than two weeks away, the time has come to commit it to writing and the public domain.
The genesis of this post was seeing more than one comment on social media in late November, of American friends of Americans newly arrived here in Prague, actually asking, ‘Do Czechs celebrate Thanksgiving?’ Another, asking an American teacher in an international school here, whether he had the day off for Thanksgiving.
I do appreciate that these comments and questions, came from some of the approximately 60% of Americans who do not hold a passport and have therefore never set foot outside their own country. I did enjoy the response . . . → Read More: Czechs don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, Halloween or Valentine’s Day
By Ricky, on January 25th, 2015 St. Clement’s Church, Prague on a winter’s evening © Ricky Yates
Today, 25th January, is kept in the Christian calendar as the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. This year, 25th January is a Sunday, and Church practice is that the readings set for a Feast Day, normally take precedence over those set for the Sunday – in this case, those set for the Third Sunday of Epiphany. So it was that this morning, we celebrated the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, with the account of his conversion recorded in the Acts of the Apostles chapter 9, being our first reading. And if you want to listen to my sermon from today, you can do here.
This is the second time during my time in Prague, that the the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul has fallen on . . . → Read More: On the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul
By Ricky, on January 19th, 2015 Havel navždy – Havel forever. © Ricky Yates
I had originally planned to write a blog post on this topic back in November 2014, immediately following the ‘Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day’ public holiday on Monday 17th November, which officially marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the beginning of the Velvet Revolution on 17th November 1989. But rather than write an immediate reaction, I eventually decided that it was better to wait somewhat longer and give myself a little more time for both research and for reflection.
For although the events of 17th November 1989 were what initially triggered the Velvet Revolution, it took several weeks before on 29th December 1989, the previously Communist Party controlled rubber stamp Czechoslovak parliament, voted dissident playwright Václav Havel, to be the new President of Czechoslovakia with the promise of holding truly democratic parliamentary elections . . . → Read More: Twenty-five years on from the Velvet Revolution
By Ricky, on January 7th, 2015 Prague © Ricky Yates
Since the beginning of this new year, aided by the ‘Forward Planner’ in my new Church Book & Desk Diary 2015, I’ve been looking ahead at what is in store for me and what I want to achieve in the coming year. In the past, I’ve frequently not been the best at forward planning, so with the new year comes a determination to do better.
In particular, I’ve been trying to decide when I can and want to take my annual leave, allowing for Easter and Christmas when I have to be in Prague, weddings at which I have agreed to officiate, and the Eastern Archdeaconry Synod and the ICS Chaplains Conference, at which my attendance is expected. By the end of this week, I want to have something firmly booked and begin organising cover for . . . → Read More: Looking ahead into 2015
By Ricky, on December 29th, 2014 The altar at St Clement’s at the end of our worship on the Fourth Sunday of Advent © Ricky Yates
This Christmas was our seventh in Prague. As I have explained in a previous post, each year a large number of our regular congregation head off to their home countries for the Christmas – New Year period, in order to celebrate with their wider family and friends. This is further exacerbated by the fact that many in the congregation either teach in one of the various international schools in Prague and/or have children who attend one of these schools. The three week Christmas school holidays, together with summer months of July and August, provide the only real opportunity for a trip back ‘home’.
However, although we held our Service of Lessons and Carols on the evening of Sunday 14th December, in advance . . . → Read More: Christmas 2014
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