5th November 2010

A Chaplain’s Diary

 

Wednesday 6th October

My wife’s cousin is a volunteer guide for tourists at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. She did medicine at Cambridge and went on to become a doctor at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. We met up with her recently at a family event and she offered to give us a conducted tour of the Cathedral next time we were in the UK. Today was that “next time”. It meant that she was able to take us into parts of the building that most tourists don’t see. It’s not my favourite building, in fact I’m not even sure I like it, but it’s a fascinating place. Inside the first thing that hit me was how bright and light it was since the interior walls had been cleaned. The Portland stone was almost white, which was a complete contrast to my last visit with its blackened interior.

 

The Duke of Wellington and Lord Nelson, who fought at the Battle of Trafalgar, are both buried downstairs in the crypt beneath huge monumental tombs. Nelson’s is in the centre of the crypt directly beneath the centre of St Paul’s great dome. Trafalgar was Nelson’s last battle although he was eerily well prepared for this eventuality, having had his coffin already made for him from the mast of a French ship sunk in one of his earlier victories. His body had to be preserved for the journey home, so it was put into a large wooden barrel, covered with French brandy before the burial at St Paul’s. Little did I know that within a few days I would be attending a special Trafalgar Day Dinner back in Majorca to commemorate the event.

Wednesday 13^th October

 

We put the Christmas tree up this morning. Yes I know it’s incredibly early but it is the last time any of us will be at our home in Staffordshire before we arrive back for Christmas. A friend who lives just up the road thought we were courting danger because she said it would simply tell burglars that the house was unoccupied, so I pushed it further into the corner so that you couldn’t see it from the front door. It did seem a bit odd because the leaves are still on the trees even though there’s that autumnal feeling everywhere. It wasn’t helped by the fact that we then went on to Tesco’s to do as much of the Christmas non-perishable food shopping as we could. In the drinks aisle I phoned my daughter to see what was her drink of choice at the moment – ten minutes later she texted back to say if we were also thinking about Easter she preferred Thornton’s Easter eggs to Cadbury’s ones! Daughter has a problem with planning for next week so certainly didn’t understand our forward planning for Christmas.

As usual wife will go back to the UK on the 23^rd December to be with the family and I shall travel back on the Clergy Express on Boxing Day where the Anglican Chaplains from Palma, Puerto Pollensa and Ibiza will no doubt lower the tone on the BmiBaby flight from Palma to East Midlands Airport having endured and hopefully survived the Christmas round of services.

 

Friday 15^th October

 

Majorca’s American Naval League is a small organisation doing sterling work. At one time they were kept very busy as USA naval ships visited the island, linking people up to act as hosts to men and women who had been at sea for a long time. Although they are not kept quite as busy as in the past the work they do is invaluable and many friendships have been forged as a result of hospitality offered to the American military. Tonight they held a Trafalgar Day Commemorative Dinner when we were addressed by a royal naval attaché who spoke about the Battle of Trafalgar. I was asked to say Grace and after a search on the internet came up with Lord Nelson’s prayer which is engraved on his tomb.

 

On the morning of 21^st October 1805, with the combined fleets of France and Spain in sight, Nelson wrote the subsequent prayer,

 

“May the great God, whom I worship,

grant to my country and for the benefit of Europe in general,

a great and glorious victory:

and may no misconduct, in any one, tarnish it:

and may humanity after victory be the predominant feature in the British fleet.

For myself individually, I commit my life to Him who made me

and may His blessing light upon my endeavours for serving my country faithfully.

To him I resign myself

and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend.

Amen.”

 

It could be said that Nelson was ahead of his time in seeing himself as a European – something which many of us feel having moved from the Motherland to Majorca. Whether we’re here because of work, retirement or in search of a new life we’ve had our horizons broadened and our vision for the European possibilities strengthened.

 

Monday 18^th October

 

Theoretically the holiday season has not yet ended on Majorca until the end of the month but already the strains of “While Shepherds Watched” and “The Twelve Days of Christmas” are permeating through the wall from the church into the Chaplaincy House. It’s the Georgie Insull Singers in full throttle getting to grips with their music for the annual Christmas Concert in December. Georgie, an ex-school music teacher has berated them tonight because she reckons they haven’t done enough homework listening to their CDs to learn their parts. She wasn’t half laying into them, so much so that I could hear her telling them off over the opening strains of Coronation Street.

 

Saturday, 30^th October

From the church’s point of view we are certainly a conglomeration of European identities. Twice a year the clergy from the many different churches get together for a pilgrimage and in my time on the island their numbers have almost doubled. There’s German Lutheran, German Catholic, the Finnish Church, the Norwegian Church, the Swedish Church, the Baptists, the Salvation Army, the Polish Catholics, the Russian Orthodox, the Bulgarian Orthodox, the Greek Orthodox, the Serbian Orthodox and the Rumanian Orthodox and last but not least the little old Anglican Church – we’re quite a crowd. Today the pilgrimage was at the Sanctuario de Bonany near Petra. Afterwards about 80 of us sat down to lunch at Es Cellar in Petra, then having eaten and drunk well we teetered off to visit the Junipero Serra Museum, just around the corner from the restaurant. Junipero Serra was the 18^th century Franciscan Friar who played an important role in the settlement of Spanish North America where he converted the native Americans of coastal California to the Catholic faith. He went on to establish a string of nine missions along the Pacific coast including San Diego and San Francisco. Serra was beatified by Pope Paul II in 1988. We were shown round the museum by the former American Consul to Majorca, Tumi Bestard, whose enthusiasm for the museum, of which he is one of the pioneers, was infectious with his warm and enthusiastic welcome.

 

Sunday, 31^st October

If you’re a fan of the Antiques Road Show or Bargain Hunt and enjoy finding a bargain then let me recommend the Christmas Bazaar at the Anglican Church.  I couldn’t believe it when I heard the story at this morning’s Bazaar planning meeting.  Last year one bargain hunter found a piece of Meissen china and bought it for 5 euros. Now Meissen china might not mean much to you – it didn’t to me, but when she valued the piece it had an estimated value of over 100 euros.  She was so pleased with her find she came back and made a donation of 50 euros because she knew that the stall holder had missed a major find that she had been lucky to buy.  So there you are!  It all happens in the Coleman Hall at the Anglican Church on November 20^th … and just in case you are wondering if you do find a bargain – good luck to you and we certainly don’t expect a second payment instalment.  Finders, keepers!

 

Robert Ellis is the Anglican Chaplain of Majorca

St Philip & St James Church

Nunez de Balboa, 6

Son Armadans

Palma

Tel: 971 737279

e-mail: anglicanpalma@gmail.com

www.anglican-mallorca.org