Fr David blessed the reelection of Mrs Carolyn Hanbury as Churchwarden and confirmed the election of Mr Lee Gagan as Synod Representative for St John's Church.

We give thanks for the Blessing of Marriage between Christabel & Daryn on 7 May at St. John's Church.

PLATINUM JUBILEE OF HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II

Event celebrated by The British Association Menton in conjunction with St John's Church and The English Library Menton

You are invited on Saturday 4th June to Palais de l'Europe, Salle de Grande Bretagne
Time: 12 midday to 4pm. For more information click HERE

40€ for British Association and library members, 55€ for non-members.

*1952, First photographic sitting. Just twenty days after The Queen’s Accession to the throne, Her Majesty sat for her first official photographs. Taken by Dorothy Wilding, these photographs were used as the basis for Her Majesty’s image on new coins, banknotes and stamps.  

The Saints John's English Library has been hosting several events including a wine tasting this month.

 If you are not a member yet, please stop by to learn about the programmes this summer.

The next event in the church will be Friday 04 June, 18h30. The church organist, Benjamin Prischi and his jazz group will give a concert. Entrance €10. Benefiting the St John’s English Library and the church.

BLESSING of the GRAVES of LORD WILLIAM BROOK PHIPPS and EDWARD LEAR.
On 12th May, our locum, The Revd. David Houghton, attended a ceremony at the Monumental Cemetery of Sanremo. He had been invited to bless the graves of
Edward Lear and William Brook Phipps after restoration of the stonework had been completed. The work was part of the Rotary Sanremo's project 'Adopt a Grave' to testify to and conserve Sanremo's past during the Belle Epoque when Sanremo was full of European Royal Families, artists, intellectuals, scientists and politicians. Many were on the Riviera for its health-giving climate, its bright light, and sweet air. Many were suffering from tuberculosis.

The ceremony began with explanations of the aim of the Project, the Rotary's
initiative, the Comune of Sanremo's appreciation of their work and a history of the
first two people who were being honoured.

LORD WILLIAM BROOK PHIPPS RN, born in 1847 at Mulgrave Castle, Lythe,
Yorkshire. He was the second son of the 2nd Marquess of Normanby, Earl of
Mulgrave, George Augustus Constantine Phipps. The Marquess was a politician,
involved in government and among other things became Governor of Nova Scotia
until 1863, Governor of Queensland 1871-1874, Governor of New Zealand 1874-79
and Governor of Victoria 1879-84.
William was married to Constance Keyser and they had three children. His health was not good and he died in Sanremo on 19th February 1880 at the young age of 32.

Four years later in 1884 William's elder brother Constantine Charles Henry Phipps, who succeeded to the title of Marquess in 1890, was in Sanremo. He had been ordained priest by the Archbishop of York in 1870. Perhaps he had celebrated the funeral sevice of William four years earlier.

The Bishop of the Diocese of Gibraltar, The Rt. Revd. Charles Waldegrave Sandford was also in Sanremo to consecrate the newly built church of All Saints and he placed the Chaplaincy in the care of The Revd. Constantine, William's brother. He was the very first Chaplain and served All Saints between the years 1884-1897. During that time he was appointed to the ninth stall in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle in 1891, a position he held until he resigned in 1907.

EDWARD LEAR, (Holloway 1812 – Sanremo 1888), lived the last nineteen years of his life in Sanremo after travelling throughout Italy, round the Mediterranean, Corfu, Greece, the remote parts of Albania, the Levant, Palestine and Egypt. He was a draughtsman, but his passion was landscape watercolours, mainly self-taught. He was a poet and author of his journeys. He was a musician, he wrote music to poems by his close friend Tennyson. The two villas he built in Sanremo were the only homes he ever had. The builder was G. Gastaldi, who also built All Saints Church. Lear moved from the first villa because its light, which was perfect while painting, was blocked by the Hotel Astoria Westend, built during one of his absences. His second home, Villa Tennyson, was almost identical to the first so that his beloved cat Foss would not lose his way inside. Foss's funeral at Villa Tennyson was a huge spectacle in comparison with that of Lear whose many friends made throughout his life were not present. Lear wrote of himself in 'By Way of Preface' to his 'Complete Nonsense' book:- 'He has many friends, laymen and clerical, Old Floss is the name of his cat: his body is perfectly spherical, he weareth a runcible hat.'

Fr. David was invited to speak and quoted the last verse of Lear's The Owl and The
Pussy-Cat :
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon, the moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.**

Fr. David then invited the people to visit the graves beginning with the prayer:-
Almighty God, with whom still live the spirits of those who die in the Lord
and with whom the souls of the faithful are in joy and felicity, we give you heartfelt thanks for the good examples of your sons Edward Lear and William Brook Phipps who,
having finished their course in life, now find rest and refreshment. May we, with all who have died in the truth of your Name, have perfect fulfilment in your eternal glory. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

At each grave Fr. David then said:-
O God, whose blessed son was laid in a sepulchre in the garden
Bless we pray this grave, and grant that Edward and William, whose bodies lie here, may dwell with Christ in paradise and may come to your heavenly kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

**Strangely enough, 3 nights later, there was an eclipse of the moon over Sanremo.

GOD IN MUSIC
from Michael Burgess

'The trumpet will sound...and we shall be changed':- Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell was born on the eve of the Restoration in 1659 and when Charles II came to the throne, the theatre that had been closed by Cromwell reopened, and a choir and musicians were installed once again at Chapel Royal. Purcell lived through the reigns of three monarchs, and during that time composed a wealth of
music, not just for his royal patrons, but for church, theatre and domestic use.
In 1692 he set the words of Colonel Heveningham, 'If Music be the food of love,'
and certainly much of his work celebrates love in all its forms, from scurrilous
catches to more intense songs. But Purcell would also have said that music was the
food of faith: in his short life anthems and devotional songs flowed from his pen.
St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music, inspired not just four odes composed to
celebrate her feast day, but a vast range of vocal and instrumental works.

In April 1694 Purcell presented Queen Mary with a glorious birthday ode, 'Come ye
Sons of Art, away.' It includes a wonderful duet for two countertenors, 'Sound the
trumpet', a hunting melody, 'Strike the viol' for soloist and two recorders, and ends
with a rollicking 'Thus nature rejoicing.'

That ode shows how words could inspire Purcell to compose his best as he
responded to events and commissions around. It might be music for a coronation,
and his settings of 'I was glad' and 'My heart is inditing' must have resonated through
Westminster Abbey at their first performance for James II's coronation in 1685.
Three years before that, his first child and a much loved uncle died: the loss of their
lives found espression in the moving 'Let mine eyes run down with tears.'
Purcell shows us how music can express the gamut of emotions experienced in life
and somehow through the music make that life richer and more bearable. So his
church music can be full of rejoicing and celebration as in the ten-part setting of
'Blow up the trumpet' of 1678.

It can be intense with the cry of petition as in 'Hear my prayer, O Lord.' It can paint
words with new insight as in the anthem 'My beloved spake.' It can express
individual grief and the grief of a nation as in his moving and heart-rending music
composed on the death of Queen Mary in December 1694: a sombre funeral march,
two elegies and the anthem 'Thou knowest, Lord.'

Purcell died a year later. Some eight years earlier he had composed 'An Evening
Hymn': over an evocative bass line, the singer adds a beautiful melody, especially
expressive in the repeated words 'soft' in the line 'to the soft bed my body I dispose.'
The day ends – and a life ends – but the composer points us to the 'sweet security' of
heaven with serene alleluias.

 150th Anniversary of the Dedication of the Church of the Holy Ghost, Genoa by Bishop Charles Amyard Harris of Gibraltar on 4th June 1872.

On Saturday 4th June 2022 18h00 all are invited to join Bishop David Hamid, Canon Tony Dickinson and members of the church's congregation for a festive aperativo, with readings from a history of the Anglican Church in Genoa to be published in the autumn. Through July and August there will be an exhibition of documents and pictures relating to the church's history and a display of church vestments.
In July, September and October there will be a series of talks about the
architecture of the building, designed by G.E. Street in deliberate omaggio to
the medieval Ligurian style, and about writers and artists who have, if only
briefly, formed part of the British community in Liguria, with readings from
the works of Charles Dickens, Henry James, Alice Maynell, Oscar Wilde and
others, which were inspired by the city and surrounding region.
On Sunday 23rd October at 10.30 there will be the Dedication Festival
Eucharist. This, the last Sunday of “Ordinary Time” is the date of the
church's “official birthday”. This year, it is, coincidentally, the 80th
anniversary of the night when one of the 100 Lancaster bombers taking part
in a raid led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson of later “Dam Busters” fame
put a bomb through the church roof, destroying its stained glass, most of its
furnishings and the fine pipe organ presented to the church in 1881 by Queen
Victoria's eldest daughter, the then Crown Princess of Germany.

LET US PRAY TOGETHER THROUGH JUNE. . .
Lord God, Heavenly Father, all we are and all we have comes from you, with grateful hearts we praise you and give you thanks and pray for ......
1. gentle rain to water the parched land and fill the rivers and reservoirs
2. Give thanks to God for our Queen Elizabeth, her long reign, wisdom, strength, and example
3. pray for our Queen today at the special service of thanksgiving in St. Paul's
4. Fellowship at The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Lunch in Menton today
5. send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth Ps.104
6. young people taking exams at this time at school, college, or university
7. ........... all who teach
8. give thanks for the wonder of God's Creation
9. our earth – change the selfish way we use its resources – our wastefulness
10. the situation in Ukraine, the people, their fears, and hardships ......
11. ....... give us welcoming and generous hearts for those displaced
12 How exalted is your name in all the world Ps. 8
13. for God's peace and justice wherever there is discord and conflict
14. those who work in the media ......
15. ......... those of us who watch or read the work they produce
16. Father's Day – may fathers know how important they are to their
children's development
17. give thanks for those who make our parks and gardens so attractive
18. for those who serve in the armed forces
19. I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living Ps.116
20. give thanks for those who work with the elderly and housebound
21. give thanks for anyone who has told you the good news of God's love
22. give thanks for long sunny summer days
23. for those whose lives are burdened with poverty ......
24. ...... and for the agencies and individuals who seek to relieve it.
25. for the work of USPG and CMS
26. The Lord has changed my mourning into dance Ps.30
27. give thanks that we can freely practice our faith ...
28. .... and pray for those who are persecuted for their faith.
29. for refreshment and a chance to relax for those on holiday at this time
30. give thanks for organisations who protect our natural environment
31. those who prepare our church services
Thank you for listening, Lord,
May we, too, listen ........... and respond. Amen

The new St John's English Library is now open .

Mrs Julia Wigart and Mrs Joanna Longhorne have done a marvellous job organising hundreds of books.

Please come to the church on Wednesday afternoon, 14h30-17h30 and Saturday morning, 09h30-12h30 to look through the Fiction and Non-Fiction books. To view the library online, please click HERE.

Church of the Holy Ghost, Genova – Mission to Migrants
There have been places of Anglican worship for British people in Bordighera, Ospedaletti, San Remo, Diano Marina, Alassio, Spotorno, Genova, Rapallo e Levanto. They came in great numbers to Liguria during the winter months of the 1860s until the end of the Second World War. By the end of the 20th century, mainly for financial and numerical reasons, all but the Church of the Holy Ghost, Genova
and the Anglican Chapel in Bordighera had closed.
Genova, being a very important port on the Mediterranean coast, welcomes people from many nations and continents to work and study. “The Church of the Holy Ghost has survived, despite some very difficult times”, writes Canon Tony Dickinson, their Chaplain “because of its ministry to a much wider community. It is not just a church for “ex-pat” Brits. The church greets those who prefer to worship
in English or for whom English is their first European language and the resident congregation at present includes people from Canada, Germany, Ghana, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Nigeria, Romania, South Africa, Switzerland, the UK and the USA.

In recent years the church has established a distinctive ministry to refugees and other migrants, particularly those who have made the dangerous journey from West Africa across the Sahara to Libya, and then risked their lives in overcrowded inflatables crossing to Lampedusa. Some were persuaded to embark on the journey by the
narrative of “El Dorado” peddled by the traffickers and their agents, or were sent by their families to “make their fortune”. Many in the initial wave of migrants came because they were trapped in Libya by the overthrow of the Ghaddafi regime and the attendant chaos. Others came to escape gang violence. Some of the young women travelled to Italy in order to escape abuse at home.
Ministry to the migrants demands a lot of energy and commitment from the core members of the congregation, who have been unstintingly generous with their time,
money and pastoral care, this has been shown in the following ways:
• supporting those who are going through Italy's immigration process
• bailing out (in extremis prison visiting) the few who get into trouble with the law or with the institutions which offer accommodation for migrants
• providing rent deposits for those who are moving on into private
accommodation and are awaiting their first pay packet
• guiding them round the intricacies of Italian bureaucracy
• sorting out health-care
• helping with CVs
• writing references for prospective employers or for immigration
commissions (and appeals against negative commission decisions)
• preparing people for job interviews
• running a small-scale food-and-clothing-bank, including bedding for those who need it, and children's clothes (the food bank serves about a dozen people each Sunday)
• keeping their eyes and ears open for any job opportunities that may be going and might be suitable for one or other of the people on our books
• encouraging them along the way of Jesus Christ

In July 2019 the church presented seven adult candidates from the Nigerian community for baptism and/or confirmation. A similar number had been presented in 2017. Many of the migrants first came to the church because they had heard from friends about the food-bank but stayed because of the warmth of fellowship which they encountered and have made the commitment to follow Jesus Christ.
Most of the work I have described is down to the personal generosity of established church members and their openness to newcomers. As one of our churchwardens has said, 'We don't have a congregation at Holy Ghost. We have a family.' The church's electoral roll currently stands at just under 30. Our average Sunday congregation is in the region of 30-40, about two-thirds of whom are “migrants” in the popular sense of the word. We are aware of 50-60 “on our books”. All but two or three of us (the native Italian members of the congregation) are in fact migrants of one kind or another, here to work, or to study, or because they fell in love. Our weekly income in recent months has normally been between €100 and €150, but if earners in the congregation are away on holiday and cruise ships aren't sending any passengers in our direction, it can be as low as half that. That income is supposed to cover our utilities' bills, the rent on the chaplain's flat, the chaplain's expenses, the maintenance of our worship amd our contribution to the running costs of the Diocese in Europe. There is a “Neighbours in Need” fund from which grants and loans are given to people in need of immediate cash help. This has been made possible largely through the generosity of the people of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Rock Creek, Washington DC.
A favourite saying among the congregation is “God sees and provides”, and what is being done here by way of pastoral care and nurturing people in Christian faith is little short of miraculous. However, the work that was done to bring the building back into use 70 years ago is showing its age, and we are very much aware that another major storm of the ferocity of last October's could lead to the church being closed as unsafe – and we couldn't afford the cost of repairs. We have only just paid off the very patient contractor who carried out the most recent refurbishment of the building seven years ago and to do that required us to run our scanty reserves down to a worryingly low level. We are also very much aware that we could do a great deal more if the building were brought up to scratch in terms of its facilities – but that also requires money that we do not have. We are also facing the likelihood of new demands in the New Year as the “camps” where many of the African migrants have been settled are due to be closed. Members of the congregation are already involved in a process of giving advice on saving and guidance on flat-sharing.