Young people at St Paul's Monaco


St Paul's Monaco has an active Sunday Club which provides Christian education to the many children of the parish during the time of the liturgy of the word in the Eucharist. One of the fruitful results of this programme is a steady stream of confirmation candidates each year. It also helps that the Chaplain, Fr Walter Raymond OGS, seeks to involve the youth in the liturgy of the parish, leading lessons and prayers from time to time.


This year, three young people were joined by an adult for the Apostolic Rite of Confirmation. Among the several important moments in the Confirmation liturgy is the time for the renewal of baptismal vows. This happens around the font itself, where our life in Christ begins. After leading the congregation in the words of the Apostles' Creed, the ancient baptismal creed of the Church, the confirmation candidates sign themselves with water from the font, to remind them that they belong to Christ, through their baptism.


Another significant moment, apart from the sacramental rite itself, is when the candidates receive lit candles and then lead the procession out of the Church into the world, for it is in the world, not in the Church, that our discipleship is lived out primarily.


My recent pastoral visit to the parish also enabled me to have lunch with some of our clergy from neighbouring parishes of Beaulieu and Nice, together with two of the Roman Catholic clergy in Monaco who serve English speaking Roman Catholics. St Paul's Monaco, and Fr Walter himself, plays an important role in ecumenical links in the region.


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