Christmas in Zermatt

St Peter’s Church, Zermatt © Ricky Yates

After conducting a wonderful service of Nine Lesson & Carols in the Frauenkirche, Dresden on the evening of Sunday 8th December, I was planning on spending a quiet Christmas at home in Stará Oleška. My Christmas worship was going to be attending a service on Christmas Eve, in German, at the Lutheran Church in Obercunnersdorf, led by my good friend and colleague, Andrew Allen. I’m not due to officiate again at the Frauenkirche, until Thursday 2nd January 2025.

Then, early in the afternoon of Thursday 19th December, an email dropped into my Inbox. It came from Jim Perryman, who oversees what is known as ‘Seasonal Mission’ for the Intercontinental Church Society (ICS). ICS are the C of E mission society who supported me when in Prague and continue to prayerfully support my ministry in Dresden.

ICS owns a Church, dating from the late nineteenth century, in the Swiss ski resort of Zermatt, for which they recruit chaplains to serve, each for a period of two weeks, during the main summer and winter holiday seasons. The email explained that, due to ‘a sudden family tragedy’, the Chaplain who was meant to arrive in Zermatt on Tuesday 17th December, open everything up for the winter season, and then serve through to New Year’s Eve, was no longer able to be there. The email was a cri de cœur, asking if anyone knew a priest who would be able to travel to Zermatt and at least cover the planned and advertised services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Jim Perryman acknowledged that with Christmas Church and family commitments, it was unlikely anyone would be available at such short notice – he entitled the email ‘LONG SHOT’ 😉 As well as being able and willing to travel, there was also the additional requirement that the priest needed to hold Bishop’s permission to officiate (PTO) in the Diocese in Europe.

I sat and read, and then re-read the email several times, over a period of thirty minutes. I realised that realistically, I could do it. I had no commitments during the time period. I hold PTO because of my ongoing ministry in Dresden. So an hour after I received the email, I wrote a reply to Jim saying, ‘I may be able to help you.’ Before I sent it, I realised it might be good to have a phone conversation, to answer the many questions that were coming into my mind. So I tried phoning the ICS office only to get the message that no one was available.

About thirty minutes after sending my email, back came a reply from Jim. He apologised for the phone silence – the ICS office staff were having their Christmas Lunch! But he said, ‘Your potential offer sounds wonderful and I will be delighted to chat with you later.’ Therefore, after a most helpful video conversation on WhatsApp, I agreed to spend Christmas in Zermatt, the first Christmas I’ve been working for eight years.

The only realistic way for me to get to Zermatt, at such short notice, was to drive there, or at least as far as Täsch, as cars and trucks are banned from entering Zermatt. It had to be a two-day drive, not helped by the short hours of daylight in mid-winter. So on the morning of Saturday 21st December, I drove from my home in Stará Oleška, to Sankt Margrethen which is in Switzerland, just over the border from Germany and Austria, where the three countries meet. There I stayed in a very nice hotel, overnight.

I’m very glad I studied the traffic map on mapy.cz before setting out the next morning as I discovered that the route I was planning to take was impassable because of winter snow. So it was onto the Autobahn around St Gallen, Zürich, Bern, and down to Vevey and Montreux. Then, as I set out into the mountains on Autoroute 9, the rain which had been falling most of the day, turned to snow. Autoroute/Autobahn 9, as you cross the French/German language divide 😉 peters out. But after several more kilometres of ordinary road, I eventually reached the town of Visp.

From Visp, there followed a twenty-eight kilometre drive, up a twisty mountain road, with heavy snow falling, before I reached Täsch. The best description of that journey would be ‘interesting’. I heard later, that shortly after my journey, the authorities closed the road so snow ploughs could operate, without cars being in the way.

My car safely parked and a trolley loaded in Täsch © Ricky Yates

Once I had parked my car in an expensive, covered, car park in Täsch, I then had to load all my luggage onto a trolley. Photographic evidence herewith. Then, I wheeled it to the railway station platform for the shuttle service to Zermatt. The trains are designed so you can wheel your trolley on in Täsch and off again in Zermatt.

The shuttle train to Zermatt © Ricky Yates

My instructions, (thirty-seven pages of them 😉 ), said that it was possible to wheel the trolley out of the station and up the hill to the Chaplain’s Flat. But with the amount of snow that had fallen and with it still snowing, that wasn’t on. Instead, I set out carrying everything.

I had not gone far when I stopped for a breather, outside a hotel. Two workmen from the hotel who were busy shovelling snow, suggested I go into the hotel lobby and take a rest. I misunderstood what they also said, thinking they would come and shortly help me. When they didn’t reappear, the hotel manageress came to my aid. Saying that I was the new English Church Chaplain helped and she summoned one of the guys I’d spoken to earlier, and told him to take me up the hill in one of hotel’s electric taxis. That manageress and her employee, were two of my Christmas angels 🙂

At least when I got into the Chaplain’s flat, everything was fine. The heating was on, the last occupants had left it in good order and there were a few non-perishable goodies in the kitchen cupboards. After unloading my bags, I set off through the snow, to see St Peter’s Church from the outside.

St Peter’s Church, Zermatt, in the snow © Ricky Yates

Taken in the dark, this photo will give you some idea of what it was like. I had visions of having to dig my way into Church the next morning.

The way to the Church is clear and the front door is open © Ricky Yates

However, when I got to the Church next day, to open it for 09.30, as required, some local authority workers had already cleared the path to the Church door and one of the set of steps leading down to the main street. All I had to do was brush the snow off the two front steps.

All of Monday 23rd and the daylight hours of Christmas Eve, were spent reading the instructions and trying to find and make work, everything relating to the Church – lights, heating, sound system, access to, and what was in the vestry. I had to also make a couple of strategic visits – to the Tourist Office to pick up some posters and make myself known, and to the supermarket to get some supplies.

It was during all of this that I received a phone call on the Chaplain’s mobile, which fortunately I had recharged overnight, as the battery was completely flat. It came from a lovely lady called Christine from North Yorkshire, who became my third Christmas Angel. ‘Do you have anyone to play the organ for your services’, she said. ‘I’ve been here before and have played the organ previously.’ I met her at the Church on Monday afternoon, and as a result, she played for three of my four services.

The first of these was a service of Lessons and Carols, starting at 17.00 on Christmas Eve. In 2023, that same service had been packed out with all pews occupied and with people standing at the back. Therefore this year, the plan was to have a second service of Lesson and Carols, starting later at 19.30, to try and spread out the numbers. However, by the time my 17.00 service was to start, all pews were occupied with an additional twenty or so, standing at the back.

I had no designated readers for either of these services. I was told just to try and nab people from the congregation to see if they were willing to read. During the daytime on Christmas Eve, I met a couple of men who came by the Church to check up on the times of services, both of whom volunteered for the 17.00 service. And as the people arrived, I recruited three more, all men.

But I had one lesson without a reader. So before commencing the service, I asked the congregation if I could have one more volunteer reader, preferably female. A hand shot up from the second row from the front. It was a young lady who was quite short and who I guessed was probably no more than twelve or thirteen years old. I accepted her offer, delighted that it was a quite short and appropriate reading, Luke 2. v1 & 3-7 describing the birth of Jesus.

The lectern, from where all the other readers read, is quite high so, when it came the time for the young lady to read, I took the other microphone from in front of my stall and held it in my hand whilst she stood up at the front and read. She read well and clearly. Shaking hands with the congregation at the door as they were leaving, this young lady, from New York City as she told me in answer to my question, personally thanked me for allowing her to read. I have to say that was for me, the most memorable part of the service which ran smoothly and was very well appreciated. I got many expressions of thanks at the door.

The one service that Christine couldn’t play for was the 19.30 Lessons & Carols. Within my thirty-seven pages of instructions was an explanation of how to play recorded organ tunes of hymns and carols through the Church sound system, using the laptop in the Chaplain’s Flat. This was one item of technology that I decided not to even start to understand, once I’d met Christine and her willingness to play for me. The problem she had with the 19.30 service was that it clashed with the time of a special Christmas Eve dinner, being provided by the hotel where she and her husband Chris and several other family members, were staying. As Christine said to me, ‘I do need to be fed’ 🙂

So, having a strong singing voice, though it did start to crack up, I told the congregation numbering eight-five, that it was going to be a DIY Carol Service. We would sing unaccompanied or a cappella. And so we did, singing eight Christmas carols interspersed by seven Bible lessons and a short sermon.

On Christmas Day morning, I received an email from someone called Dominic. He had found this blog and gained my email address from it. Dominic wrote,

‘What a lovely service last night in Zermatt! I thought the unaccompanied singing worked especially well, albeit in large part thanks to your tuneful leadership. It was much better than singing along to a recording, as I recall having done one previous Christmas Eve in that chapel.’

As well as taking the compliment, receiving Dominic’s email was very reassuring to me of the decision I’d taken.

My third service on Christmas Eve, was a Midnight Eucharist starting at 23.30. I had a very appreciative and responsive congregation numbering forty. At this service, as I’d also had at the two previous services, I received many expressions of appreciation and thanks for being so willing to travel all the way to Zermatt meaning that the services could take place. Several people had seen the earlier notification on the ICS website, that Christmas services would probably not now take place because of the absence of a Chaplain. But it was updated, immediately after I agreed to travel and be there.

Standing in front of the Chancel apse of St Peter’s Church, Zermatt © Ricky Yates

After relatively few hours of sleep, my final service was on Christmas Day morning – an informal short Service of the Word, including singing four more Christmas carols. The smallest of my congregations with twenty adults and a couple of children. After this service was over, my wonderful organist Christine, took this photo of me in front of the chancel apse of the Church.

Afterwards, I then went back to the flat to cook my own Christmas Dinner. During the afternoon, I had difficulty not falling asleep as I was so worn out and tired. But I managed to stay awake until 20.00, the time in the evening when I was expected to lock the Church. I then went to bed at 20.30 and slept soundly for ten hours.

Tomorrow morning, I have to go down to the Post Office and bank the proceeds of the collections taken at the four services. I’ve already counted it all and filled in an online financial report. There are five different currencies, Swiss francs, Euros, Sterling, US dollars and Hong Kong dollars 😉 That is what you get with international congregations 🙂 After that, I hope to go up into the mountains and enjoy the view. One bonus of being a Chaplain in Zermatt is the provision of a free ski pass for all the ski lifts and gondolas. There will be more photos.

Some of the mountains surrounding Zermatt © Ricky Yates

How I became a hymn book smuggler into the EU

Smuggled hymn books in the boot of my car © Ricky Yates

As I posted here a year ago, since May 2023, I have been officiating at a monthly English-language Anglican service of Evening Prayer held on a Thursday evening in the Unterkirche of the Dresden Frauenkirche. This is in addition to the monthly Sunday evening service in the Hauptraum for which I’ve had responsibility since January 2015.

For my monthly Sunday evening service, the Pfarrbüro produce a twelve-page complete Order of Service based on the text I send them at least a week earlier. Hymns are taken from ‘Hymns Ancient & Modern New Standard’, published in 1983, with the melody line of the tune, as well as all the words, reproduced. As I understand it, the Pfarrbüro was given a copy of this hymn book by the late Rev’d Dr Irene Ahrens when the monthly Sunday evening service began in June 2006. I presume that this was the hymn book used by St George’s, Berlin where she was the Assistant Priest.

For the German-language services held on the other three or four Thursdays each month, only a simple four-page folded A4 sheet with limited text, is produced, with hymns being sung from the Evangelisches Gesangbuch, copies of which are kept on a mobile bookcase in the Unterkirche. I was asked whether I could obtain some English-language hymn books so the same procedure could be adopted for my services.

The Church of England’s Diocese in Europe, has a Dresden Fund, which I can tap into for anything that is ‘ministry in Dresden’. So the cost of purchasing hymn books could be covered. But I had two decisions to make. Which hymn book to choose and how to get copies from the UK to Dresden without incurring huge costs.

Two revised and updated editions of Hymns Ancient & Modern (A&M) have been published since ‘New Standard’ was produced forty-one years ago. ‘Common Praise’ was published in 2000 to coincide with adoption by the Church of England of Common Worship, the liturgy in contemporary English. Then in 2013, reverting to the original title, ‘Ancient & Modern – Hymns & Songs for Refreshing Worship’, was published.

I have a music edition of ‘Common Praise’ but have only once briefly seen the A&M 2013 edition when attending a service at Wimborne Minster in April last year where it was in use. So I sent an email to Norwich Books & Music, the umbrella organisation for A&M, asking if they could send me a complete list of all the hymns contained in the 2013 edition. A prompt reply promised to send me a free sampler booklet, produced back in 2013, which included an alphabetical list of all the hymns.

Before Brexit, that sampler booklet would have dropped into my mail box, five to seven days later. But instead, what did drop into my mail box was a registered letter saying that my free booklet was held by Czech Customs in Prague. If I wanted to have it delivered, I needed to pay CZK 334/GBP 11.25/EUR 13.30 in customs duty and to gain customs clearance. Yet another example of the wonderful benefits of Brexit!

Having reluctantly paid up and then studied the sampler booklet, I decided this was the hymn book I wanted to purchase. But my mind boggled as to what customs duties might be levied on twenty-five copies of the melody edition and three full music editions. And of course, there would be legitimate carriage costs too. Therefore I decided that I would become a hymn book smuggler into the EU 😉

I have to say that Norwich Books & Music were extremely helpful and cooperative. They agreed to treat my services at the Frauenkirche as though they were a congregation in the UK, providing five of the melody editions free – I only had to pay for twenty copies. They also happily agreed to deliver them to my son’s home address in Nottingham. And because of the value of the order, delivery within the UK was carriage free.

In July this year, I drove to the UK to visit my children and grandchildren and to spend a most enjoyable week, exploring sites of religious and historic interest in the Northeast of England with a small group, led by my good friend Ken Dimmick. Whilst staying with my son Phillip, I loaded the two boxes of hymn books into the boot of my car.

I returned to continental Europe by overnight ferry from North Shields to IJmuiden in the Netherlands. At Dutch customs, all the officer wanted to know was whether I was importing large quantities of alcohol. I assured him I wasn’t and, after that, I was free to travel onwards with my hymn book booty 😉 It was a pleasure to sing from these hymn books for the first time at my service on Thursday 1st August.

I’ve written this post to illustrate once again, the absurdity of Brexit and the lengths one now has to go to, in order to mitigate the innumerable problems it has created. Why is it beneficial to the UK for me to be forced to pay CZK 334/GBP 11.25/EUR 13.30 in order to receive a free booklet? Can Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage, the Daily Fail, the Daily Excrement, the Daily Torygraph et al, please explain.

A Purple Weekend

Yours Truly processing at the beginning of the Consecration Service between Archdeacon Walter Baer and Rev’d Nathanial Bm © Sybille Yates

 

 

My last month as the Anglican Chaplain of St Clement’s, Prague, started with what can be best described as a ‘purple weekend’. It featured bishops – lots of them!

As I have explained many times previously on this blog, for legal and ecumenical reasons, St Clement’s is officially the English-speaking parish of the Old Catholic Church in the Czech Republic. Back in April 2016, at a synod meeting held at Želiv Monastery, Pavel Benedikt Stránský was elected to succeed the retiring Bishop Dušan Hejbal, as head of the Czech Old Catholics. Therefore on Saturday 1st April 2017, I attended what in English sounds like a contradiction in terms – the consecration of Pavel Benedikt Stránský as the new Old Catholic Bishop of the Czech Republic 🙂

 

 

 

Archbishop Joris Vercammen © Sybille Yates

The Consecration Service took place in the Basilica sv Markéty, located within the Brevnov Monastery complex in Prague. The service was presided over by the Archbishop of Utrecht, Joris Vercammen, whose role within the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht is very similar to that of the Archbishop of Canterbury within the Anglican Communion. Also participating were Old Catholic bishops from the Netherlands, Germany Switzerland and Austria.

Bishop-elect Pavel between two supporting OC priests with contrasting hairstyles 🙂 © Sybille Yates

However, because of the Bonn agreement of 1931, by which Old Catholics and Anglicans, mutually recognise each others orders, Anglican bishops from the Episcopal Church of the USA, the Church of Ireland, the Lusitanian Church – Portuguese Episcopal Church, together with my Church of England Diocesan bishop, Rt Rev’d Dr Robert Innes, also participated in the Consecration Service.

The service lasted for nearly three hours and was conducted mainly in Czech and German, with a little English. It was, as Bishop Robert has himself written, a test in humility for us English-speakers! But it was good to be there, and see Bishop Pavel take up his role as head of the Old Catholic Church in the Czech Republic, before my own retirement, as he and Bishop Robert will have joint responsibility, for appointing my successor.

On the morning of Sunday 2nd April, Bishop Robert was the Celebrant and Preacher at our Sung Eucharist for the Fifth Sunday of Lent – Passion Sunday. Wanting to engage the St Clement’s congregation with the very long Gospel reading – the story of the raising of Lazarus as recorded in John 11. 1-45, he got me to read it in five separate sections with his sermon interspersed between each section. You can listen to the reading and sermon here. Within the service, he also confirmed three members of the congregation, Sebastian, Radka and John.

The three confirmees, together with Bishop Robert, Rev’d Nathanial & Yours Truly © Sybille Yates

At an extended Coffee Hour with copious amounts of food, Bishop Robert met with members of the congregation, displaying his language skills by speaking in both French and Flemish/Dutch as well as English. Then, whilst I headed off to Brno for our regular monthly service in the second city of the Czech Republic, the Church Council met with Bishop Robert to discuss the future of the Chaplaincy and the strategy and timetable for appointing my successor. 

From l to r: Licensed Reader Jack Noonan, Rev’d Nathanial Bm, Bishop Robert, Yours Truly © Stephen Weeks

From Winter into Spring

After a very cold and snowy winter, as I explained in my eighth blog anniversary post, in the last couple of weeks, Winter has slowly begun to recede and Spring is arriving. Therefore, it is certainly time to get my blog out of hibernation, being very aware that I haven’t posted anything here for a month.

There are numerous events that I could write about but here are just three highlights from the last couple of weeks.

My birthday burger © Ricky Yates

Birthday

On Sunday 26th February, I celebrated my sixty-fifth birthday. This is the second time since moving to Prague, that my birthday has fallen on a Sunday. The last time was on the occasion of my sixtieth birthday in 2012 which was also a leap year. There has since been a further leap year in 2016 meaning that my birthday in 2017 was once more on a Sunday.

Whilst I was aware that certain members of the congregation knew it was my birthday, I made no mention of it during our 11.00 Sung Eucharist that morning, hoping that after post-Eucharistic coffee and refreshments, I could just go on to a quiet birthday lunch with Sybille, who had celebrated her forty-ninth birthday on Friday 24th February.

At the end of the service, having instructed the congregation to, ‘Go in peace to love and serve the Lord’ and they had responded, ‘In the name of Christ. Amen’, I acknowledged the altar and then set off to walk down the aisle to the Church door. But what did Professor Michal Novenko strike up with as his organ postlude? ‘Happy Birthday to you!’ I was therefore duly serenaded by the whole congregation as I made my exit 🙂 I discovered afterwards that Churchwarden Gordon Truefitt, once having received communion, had nipped up to the balcony and worded up Michal 😉

I did eventually have my quiet birthday lunch with Sybille in one of our favourite restaurants, Fraktal. It is known as serving the best burgers in Prague, and on their Víkendové menu, is my favourite Fredov snídanový burger. I did manage to take a photograph of mine before consuming it!

Tower of the Freiburger Münster © Ricky Yates

Council of Anglican and Episcopal Churches in Germany (CAECG)

Having officiated at my final Ash Wednesday Eucharist in Prague on the evening of Wednesday 1st March, the following morning, I set out at 07.00, to drive to Freiburg im Breisgau. This was to attend my first meeting of CAECG, in my capacity of being the coordinator for English-language Anglican worship in Dresden. My journey took six & three-quarter hours including two brief breaks, but was made at least twenty minutes longer than it should have been, by a Stau on the Autobahn near Heilbronn.

Germany is part of continental Europe where there is what is proverbially known as ‘overlapping ecclesiastical jurisdiction’. There are a number of Anglican congregations which are part of the Church of England’s Diocese in Europe. But there are also several congregations that are part of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe. Most but not all of these Episcopal congregations, came about as a result of the American zone of occupation, following the end of World War Two.

CAECG was established about twenty years ago, to coordinate and support the work of both ‘Anglican Churches’, within Germany. From 15.00 on the afternoon of Thursday 2nd to lunchtime on Friday 3rd, we met as a clergy chapter, sharing experiences of ministry and discussing pertinent issues. Following a two hour afternoon break, during which I was able to enjoy a brief walking exploration of the Altstadt of Freiburg, we were joined by elected lay delegates for the following twenty-four hours.

An attractive building on one side of the Münsterplatz, Freiburg © Ricky Yates

First we dealt with various business matters, but then we enjoyed three talks with impromptu questions and discussion, given by Rev’d Dr Charlotte Methuen. In the year that marks the five-hundredth anniversary of Martin Luther and his ninety-five theses, Charlotte spoke about Luther, the issues facing the German Church at that time, and then how his teaching and theology impacted on Church of England liturgy and Church practice. Wonderfully stimulating and most enjoyable.

On Saturday 4th March following lunch, I drove back to Prague, giving a lift to Archdeacon Colin Williams. Colin is both Archdeacon of Germany and Northern Europe, as well as being Archdeacon for the Eastern Archdeaconry. Therefore when we crossed from north Bavaria into the Czech Republic, we crossed his Archidiaconal boundary 🙂 On Sunday 5th March, Archdeacon Colin was the preacher at our 11.00 Sung Eucharist. Then following post-Eucharistic coffee and refreshments, he held a further ‘Vacancy Meeting’ with the Prague Church Council, helping them plan for the future ‘post Rixit’, as my retirement has become known 🙂 , including compiling a Chaplaincy profile and person specification as part of the recruitment process for finding my successor.

House hunting

Ever since the beginning of the year, I have become very aware that I need to find somewhere to live, once I retire on the Sunday 30th April 2017. I previously wrote about my plans in my first blog post of 2017. However, in recent weeks, I have become increasingly frustrated with Czech Real Estate Agents, who seem to lack desire to sell any property in their portfolio.

Numerous Estate Agents have websites that are in both Czech and English. The reasonable assumption is that they recognise that some potential buyers will not be fluent in Czech. Yet when I have sent off enquiries in English about certain properties, silence has ensued.

However, in the past couple of days, I have found two properties that look suitable, located in my area of search. Even better, I’ve had prompt responses in English from the respective agents. In particular, Martin Tonder of Vesta Realitní, phoned me within half an hour of receiving my email. When I missed his call, he immediately followed it up with a text message, offering me the opportunity to view the property the next day which was today.

When I met Martin today, as well as speaking to me in English, aided by having lived and worked in the USA and being married to an American, he was most helpful in addressing and answering my queries. He even gave me the ultimate compliment, saying he had been reading this blog 😀 No property will fulfil every requirement of mine, but the one he showed me today looks very promising. Watch this space!

A morning walk around Brussels

Palais de Justice, Brussels © Ricky Yates

 

As I explained in my previous post, on Wednesday 18th January, I had a very long day-trip to Brussels. Whilst the round table discussion with Lord George Bridges that I was to attend, was not scheduled to begin until 14.00, the only way I could be sure of being there on time, was to take a flight leaving Prague Airport at 06.45, which landed at Brussels Airport at 08.15.

Whilst I have driven around Brussels on the city’s ring road, many times, I have never previously visited the city itself. So I decided to take advantage of a frosty but clear morning, to explore a little on foot.

First I found the correct machine in the airport arrivals area where I could purchase my €4.50 ticket for Bus 12. The bus took me into the centre of Brussels, passing amongst other places, the headquarters of NATO. My bus journey terminated at Place de Luxembourg, the site of the European Parliament building.

European Parliament building, Brussels © Ricky Yates
European Parliament in the languages of the EU © Ricky Yates

After enjoying coffee and croissants at Café Tout Bon, I walked the length of Rue du Luxembourg, then around the grounds of the Palais de Bruxelles, before arriving in Place Royale, overlooked by Eglise Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg.

Eglise Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg, Brussels © Ricky Yates

On the other side of the square, there is this wonderful view across the Jardin du Mont des Arts.

View across the Jardin du Mont des Arts, Brussels © Ricky Yates

Just to the right of this view point are two other interesting buildings. Why the one on the left  is called ‘Old England’ I have no idea! Whilst the one on the right strikes me as a classical example of Flemish architecture.

‘Old England’, Brussels © Ricky Yates
Classic example of Flemish architecture © Ricky Yates

From Place Royale, Rue de la Régence goes all the way to the imposing Palais de Justice, featured in the first photograph of this blog post.

Interior of Holy Trinity Pro-Cathedral, Brussels © Ricky Yates

My eventual goal was our Holy Trinity Pro-Cathedral and the close-by office of Bishop Robert, my Diocesan Bishop. Fortunately, there is a midweek Holy Communion service each Wednesday at the Pro-Cathedral starting at 12.30, which I was able to attend. Above is a view of the interior.

West window, Holy Trinity Pro-Cathedral, Brussels © Ricky Yates

Whilst this is the beautiful, recently installed, new west window.

At the back of the Pro-Cathedral is this simple plaque, commemorating Nurse Edith Cavell, She is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from both sides in the First World War, without discrimination and with helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium, for which she was arrested. She was accused of treason, found guilty by a court-martial, sentenced to death and shot by a German firing squad.

Memorial to Nurse Edith Cavell © Ricky Yates