In January 2012, I wrote a post entitled ‘Exploring the Czech Republic‘, in which I told of my discovery of a place in the Czech Republic which bears my name – Ricky. As I explained in that post, the village is actually called Rícky v Orlických horách, and there should be a hacek, a little hook, above both the ‘R’ and the ‘c’ in ‘Rícky, as there should be above the ‘c’ in ‘hácek’. But as I know from past experience, for technical reasons that are beyond my comprehension, if I put one in, the letter will appear as ‘?’ in the text of this blog.
‘Rícka’ means ‘stream’ and so with the ‘a’ replaced with a ‘y’, the word is made plural meaning ‘streams’. ‘v Orlických horách’ simply means ‘in the Eagle Mountains’. Therefore, part of the reason for our trip to the Orlické hory, was so that Ricky could finally fulfil his longstanding ambition of visiting Rícky 🙂
Rícky v Orlických horách lies about seven kilometres north of Rokytnice v Orlických horách. After a peaceful night’s sleep in Pension Rampušák in Rokytnice, our plan was to walk to Rícky the next day. However, rather than the sunshine and blue skies that had greeted us upon our arrival in Rokytnice, we awoke to a howling wind blowing existing lying snow into greater drifts, and fresh snowflakes falling from the sky. We spent the morning in the warmth of our room, debating what we should do.
Following lunch in the restaurant of Pension Rampušák, we decided to brave the weather and go. So we set off and walked three kilometres out of Rokytnice up to Horní (Upper) Rokytnice where the road to Rícky branches off to the left. Just as we arrived at the road junction, along came the local bus service from Rokytnice to Rícky. We paid our fare of CZK 17 (£0.54) each, and hopped on. Four kilometres later, after a journey over a twisty snow-covered road, we arrived in the centre of Rícky.
Rícky v Orlických horách is a ski centre in winter and a base for walking holidays in summer. Covered in unusual late season snow, it was caught between its two identities. Other than a couple of mothers meeting their children coming home from school on the bus, the place was dead!
On our seven kilometre walk back to Rokytnice, Sybille took the picture at the beginning of this post and I took the one below, both of which I trust, illustrate how much lying snow there was, despite it being early April when Spring flowers should be appearing.
And below is a photo of the most exposed part of our return walk, with Sybille walking past piles of snow that are nearly as high as she is! So much for a pleasant Spring walk – but at least now, Ricky has finally visited Rícky 🙂
After spending Easter Monday exploring Boskovice, the following morning we drove further north for about three hours, (including a mid-morning coffee break), from South Moravia, into the extreme north-eastern corner of Bohemia. This was in order to visit the Orlické hory (Czech) or Adlergebirge (German), both names which translate literally into English as ‘Eagle Mountains’.
The Orlické hory lie close to the border with Poland in the former Sudetenland, from which the Sudetendeutschepopulation were expelled at the end of the Second World War. They are not as high as the Krkonoše Mountains where we spent a walking holiday for a week in July 2011. Therefore, when planning some weeks earlier, how to spend my post-Easter break, we thought they would be an ideal location for a couple of days of walking enjoying some pleasant Spring weather 😉
The clear unwillingness of winter to relax its grip, did make us wonder whether this was still a good idea. But as Tuesday 2nd April dawned fine and sunny and the main roads were dry and clear of snow, we decided to stick to our original plan. So we arrived at Rokytnice v Orlických horách which, as the sign declares, is the brána Orlických hor, ‘Gateway to the Eagle Mountains’.
Rokytnice, (Rokitnitz in German), is a small town with a population of around 2500 and is around 580 metres (1,900 feet) above sea level. As with many Czech towns, at the centre is a pleasant main square, overlooked by a Church.
A short distance from the Church, on one side of the square, we spotted Pension Rampušák which offered both meals and accommodation. We adopted our regular pattern of saying, “Mluvíme trochu cesky” – “We speak little Czech”, followed by, “Do you speak English? – Sprechen Sie Deutsch?”, and found that the lady proprietor spoke fluent German.
Pension Rampušák proved to be a wonderful find. We were offered a spacious double-bedded room with an equally spacious on-suite bathroom, for CZK 700 (just over £23.00) per night, including breakfast! We promptly booked in for two nights. We then discovered as we sat down and had lunch in the pension restaurant, that our German-speaking hostess also employed an excellent chef 🙂
That afternoon, we set out on a post-lunch digestive walk, first exploring the town and then following a waymarked footpath along the river valley, south of the town. Although the path was snow-covered, it was never too deep for walking and we enjoyed bright sunshine throughout the afternoon.
On the morning of Easter Monday, Sybille and I set off from Brno, to spend the first few days of my post-Easter break, exploring some more parts of the Czech Republic we have not previously visited. We drove about 40 km north from Brno, to the town of Boskovice. Despite seeing ever-increasing amounts of snow lying on the surrounding countryside as we drove into the hills of the Moravský kras, the main roads were fortunately perfectly clear.
We parked the ‘Carly’ in the somewhat snow-covered Masarykovo námestí, the main square in the town centre, which is dominated at the west end, by the impressive Kostel Sv. Jakuba Staršího/Church of St. James the Great. From there, we set out to discover two of Boskovice’s main landmarks. A large Zámek/Chateau, which dates from the early nineteenth century and is built on the site of a former Dominican monastery.
And the quite substantial ruined remains of a 13th century castle. Unfortunately, despite a sign indicating that the castle would be open because it was Easter Monday – a public holiday, we discovered at the end of our walk up a snow-covered hill, that it was closed. We suspect that this was due to the adverse weather conditions. This was a shame as I understand that there are excellent views from the castle, across the surrounding countryside.
For several centuries, there was a large Jewish population living in Boskovice. The Jewish quarter of the town, is among the best preserved monuments of Jewish culture in the whole of the Czech Republic. In 1942, during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, 458 Jewish men, women and children, were deported from Boskovice, initially to Terezín, and then on to concentration camps such as Auschwitz. Of those deported, only fourteen survived.
The main synagogue was built in 1639 and was altered and extended over the following centuries. During the eighteenth century, the interior walls were decorated with frescos, the work of Polish Jewish artists. Having been neglected and used as a warehouse during the Communist era, following the Velvet Revolution, restoration work began with the synagogue being reopened to the public in 2002. Whilst many of the frescos at lower levels have been lost, no doubt due to rising damp, those at higher levels around the ladies gallery, are remarkably intact.
Having seen a note on the door of the synagogue during the morning of Easter Monday, that it would be open from 13.00 that afternoon, we returned there after a late lunch at 14.50. We were greeted by the lady in charge who fortunately spoke fluent German. She explained that the synagogue had again been closed for several months over the past winter in order for further restoration work to be undertaken. Monday 1st April was reopening day and we were the first visitors of 2013. I duly christened the 2013 page of the visitors book!
As well as the synagogue, the lady in charge also took us across the road to the basement of a house, where there is a restored private mikve for Jewish ritual washing. This mikve is a relatively recent find, following the ownership of the house changing hands. The new owner decided to clear out the rubbish & rubble from the basement of his house, and made this remarkable discovery!
At the south-western end of Boskovice, there is the third largest Jewish cemetery in the whole of the Czech Republic, containing around 2500 headstones. As in this example, inscriptions are usually in both Hebrew and German.
Boskovice does not even rate a mention in our ‘Lonely Planet Guide to the the Czech Republic and Slovakia’. Fortunately, I had come across a couple of snippets of information about the town elsewhere, which is what prompted our visit. Seeing the amazing artwork in the restored synagogue and private mikve, were the highlights of an informative and fascinating day.
With Easter Day being quite early in 2013, and with Northern and Central Europe experiencing one of the coldest months of March on record, I did rather expect our Prague Easter Day congregation not to be quite as large as it was in 2012. Added to these two factors, was the change to Central European Summer Time (CEST) during the previous night, another discouragement &/or confusion to add to the mix. In view of the weather, the term ‘summer time’ did seem somewhat inappropriate 🙁
Despite all of this, we did still have a large congregation for Easter Day worship in Prague with a very good turnout of our regular congregation, a few of our ‘lost sheep’ reappearing, and being joined by a good number of English-speaking visitors from around the globe. Amongst the latter were several young Christians from India, all of whom are currently studying at various universities in Germany, who had organised to spend the Easter weekend together in Prague, and had made attending Christian worship on Easter Day, a central priority of their trip.
Having on Easter Eve, put the third member of our family, Oscar our elderly black & white cat, into the care of Hellam family for a few days, it meant that Sybille was able to travel down with me to Brno and attend worship there for the first time. So after fellowship and post-service refreshments in Prague, we set off together in the ‘Carly’, along the D1 – the Prague-Brno motorway.
We stopped for a late lunch at a service area some 60 km out of Prague, which advertises itself as serving the largest rízek/schnitzel on the D1 🙂 As I was eating mine, so snowflakes started falling outside. And as we drove on after lunch, across the Vysocina/Highlands, so the snow got heavier. Fortunately, the motorway remained relatively clear, but we arrived to see Brno covered in snow. Apparently, it had been snowing there for most of the day. So in Brno on Sunday 31st March 2013, I experienced the first ever ‘White Easter’ that I can remember.
Unfortunately, the adverse weather discouraged a small number of people from attending our evening Eucharist in Brno. But I was thrilled that Phil and Lenka, an English-Czech couple whose wedding I conducted in September 2010, came along to boost the regular congregation. They are currently having a house built for themselves, just south of Brno, with a view to moving there permanently from the UK, later this year. Two more future members of the Brno congregation!
Even better was the news that Phil & Lenka had taken note of what I had said in my sermon at their wedding. I had spoken about the Christian understanding of marriage as outlined in the preface to the Marriage Service in ‘Common Worship- Pastoral Services’. In the preface it states that the third reason that marriage is given is, ‘as a foundation of family life in which children may be born and nurtured’. Yes – Lenka is pregnant and is expecting their first child in August this year!
After post-service refreshments, Sybille & I drove out to Komin, a former village that is now a Brno outer suburb, to stay overnight with Katka, my chief Brno service organiser, and her husband Josef. The photo at the beginning of this post, is of the view from their guest bedroom window that greeted us on Easter Monday morning. Please note the snow on the nearby rooftops & the surrounding hills. Bing – I’m not dreaming of a ‘White Christmas’ or a ‘White Easter’ – I’ve just experienced one!
Sunday 17th March 2013 was a significant day for a number of reasons. Firstly it was Passion Sunday – the fifth Sunday of Lent, marking the beginning of Passiontide, the most important two weeks of the Christian year. It also featured the same set of Biblical readings and was the equivalent Sunday of three years previously in 2010, when I had to preach in the presence of Their Royal Highnesses, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. This is something my new Archbishop only did for the first time this past week 🙂
But Sunday 17th March was also very significant for Matthew, a Scottish member of the St. Clement’s congregation, as it was the occasion when he preached his first ever sermon. Matthew is currently exploring a possible vocation to train for ordained ministry within the Church of England. He has already successfully jumped through several initial hoops, including a long interview with the Vocations Advisor for the Eastern Archdeaconry of the Diocese in Europe, and attending an intensive Vocations Weekend in London at the end of January. But in advance of a critical long interview with the Diocesan Director of Ordinands (DDO) in London in early April, he is required to have preached a sermon, the text of which needs to be submitted to the DDO in advance of the interview.
Sunday 17th March both suited Matthew and me as being the occasion for preaching his first sermon. But what I did not initially realise was that the date is also St. Patrick’s Day. Therefore, I was suitably ribbed by my Irish Reader Jack Noonan, for inviting a Scotsman to preach on St. Patrick’s Day 🙂 However, in a show of Celtic solidarity, Matthew chose to wear his kilt in order to ‘to show love and to honour those in our congregation who hail from Ireland or those who have Irish ancestry’, as he so generously put it in the opening lines of his sermon.
The sermon was both well prepared and very well delivered. Matthew concentrated on the Gospel reading set for the day from John 12. 1-8, which tells of how Mary, the sister of Martha & Lazarus, anointed Jesus’ feet with half a litre of expensive perfume whilst he was visiting their home in Bethany. You can listen to and/or read the text of the sermon by following this link to our Church website.
Matthew teaches English to a variety of Czech adults in their workplaces. Having told his students what he was doing, quite a number asked if they could attend. Their reasons for doing so varied I’m sure, ranging from wanting to hear their English teacher preach in a Church service, to experiencing English-language Anglican worship, and to seeing Matthew in his kilt. And the feedback from the students when Matthew next met with them the following day, was fascinating to say the least.
The Czech students fell into two groups. There were the atheists who, in reality, are often more agnostic rather than atheist. They sat together as a small group in the pews near the back of the Church. They told Matthew that they found the service, ‘very nice indeed’. Their greatest surprise was the lack of fancy gold decoration within the Church building, in contrast to the many overly decorated baroque Roman Catholic Churches that you find throughout Prague. One student called it, ‘a Church and service for poor people’ and further expressed his view that, ‘this is what the Church should be about’. Here I hear echoes of the first statements by the newly elected Pope Francis I. Yet it is his Church that owns all these highly decorated buildings which so easily send out the wrong message as to what Christianity is all about. It will be interesting to see how he sets about grasping that nettle.
The other group were practising Roman Catholics who, unlike most Anglicans, sat in the pews right at the front of the Church 🙂 Their response was one I’ve heard many times from Roman Catholics after attending an Anglican Eucharist for the first time – how very similar our liturgy is in its wording and structure, to the Roman Catholic mass. As I have frequently had to explain, when revising and updating their respective liturgies, both Roman Catholics & Anglicans have gone back to the writings of Justin Martyr & Hippolytus, who describe the pattern of the Eucharist as it was celebrated in the Christian Church of the second & third centuries AD.
Their other reaction was one that both pleases but also saddens me. What struck them was how personal (one to one) the service was with my words of welcome to congregation at the beginning, and with the announcements before the final hymn at the end. They said this was really amazing as their own church is very ‘official’ as they described it and none of this would ever happen during their mass. There is almost a sense of their clergy being uncaring and conducting the service, ‘with no room for humility or humour’.
Whilst it is nice to be complimented, it does sadden me that even people who attend Christian worship regularly, still find their own Church uncaring and their clergy lacking warmth and humility. All of this re-echoed what I heard from various Czech young people a year ago, after conducting a Czech-American wedding in March 2012. To most Czech people, the Christian Church, both Roman Catholic and Protestant, is cold and unwelcoming and not a good advert for the Christian faith.
Not only did these Czech people, both those with faith & those of a more agnostic train of thought, find our worship warm and welcoming, they also found individual members of the congregation warm and welcoming too. They expressed their appreciation as to how so many people went out of their way to talk with them and invite them across the road to Coffee Hour after the service. I am both pleased and thankful that the St. Clement’s congregation has been such a good example of what a Christian community should be – showing something of the love and compassion of Jesus Christ to those who have come to worship with us for the first time.
At our Eucharist yesterday – Palm Sunday, we had twenty three visitors of a different kind join us for worship. They were the Chapel Choir and Organist of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. They wonderfully enhanced our worship, singing a setting by Josef Rheinberger, of Kyrie, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei, together with an Introit and a Communion Anthem. Whilst I am a great believer in the whole congregation joining in singing the musical parts of the liturgy, there is a case for sometimes just sitting or standing quietly and letting those gifted by God with great voices and instrumental skills, sing and play in praise of God.
The choir also gave a great lead to our congregational hymns, including ‘All glory, laud and honour, to thee Redeemer King’, ‘Ride on, ride on in majesty’, and my own favourite for Passiontide and Holy Week, ‘My song is love unknown’. As a member of the congregation remarked to me in an email on Sunday evening, ‘As for the music…..Wow!’ It really was a great beginning to once more marking Holy Week before celebrating the joys of Easter Day.
