Hello Church!

I’ve prepared some prayer materials to be used throughout Holy Week.  These have been sourced through a compilation of prayers by a priest, Fr. Louis, who is in the parish just north of us.  He is shut away in his chaplaincy flat, which I am told is not big enough to swing a cat in.  And he is single, and lonely.  Because of this, and his dedication as a man of prayer, and having tons of time on his hands, we have some great ‘stuff’ for Holy Week.  And the Diocese of Europe sent it all the way back to us as a suggested resource for Holy Week. https://europe.anglican.org/main/latest-news/post/1555-coronavirus-prayer-reflection  

It is well laid out, and best viewed on the computer screen as a pdf file.  But it is huge – 96 pages.  Not overwhelmingly so, great for the computer savvy, who are fast as a mouse on a wheel, and those who like praying from a screen.  I’m getting used to doing that with other prayer sources.  Just remind yourself to turn off the wifi, and internet for a bit so as not to be distracted.  Oh, and remember to turn it back on again.

I have also cut it all up into manageable chunks in Word format.  Just remember, that there are still other things I haven’t included that are good too….. like Stations of the Cross.  So I’ve concentrated on daily and night prayer. The ‘3 Holy Days’ of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday will follow.

And the other priests have and will continue this week to do plenty of things that dwarf this effort of mine.  But I have capitulated and gone on YouTube.  The name of the channel is Costa Blanca Anglican Chaplaincy 1.  I thought of calling it ‘Greatest Hits’ instead of 1, but that would be an untruth.  Check it out, subscribe, and press like…..  you can find it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFrQOHgY_L8

Finally, here in Benissa we have lots of toilet paper, but printing paper and ink is on short supply – rather, I don’t know where to find it, and it isn’t stocked in the Grocery Stores.  Perhaps we aren’t the only ones.  But with this in mind I have created word document files, that cut the need for paper and ink right down.  If you are keen enough, try printing on both sides, and using black draft to save on ink.

And because, well, some of us find it just plain weird using a computer screen, as opposed to the printed word.  And we might want to place it in an area of the house that we do like to pray, ready for use.  Louis has even given us a prayer and suggestions on creating a prayerful spot.

I am going to send all of this to you in one go.  That’s because I have compressed things down enough, and, there is just too much stuff coming through our inboxes as it is.  I am even contemplating a quiet day or more and switching the online world off.  Great in times like this, but a real pain too! 

Finally………  whew!  Now that we have another 3 weeks, we can now proceed to get all we lamented not getting done in the first three weeks.  I think it’s now about our pace, eating well (yes, we might want to lose some lbs now, but also remember you have a resistance to maintain), and thankfully, getting some sun for a change.  Who would have ever thought that would be a problem in Spain.  Oh well, it kept us indoors the first few weeks!