I went to the church of all the Saints which was built in 1884 by the 'English Anglican' and then became Catholic in 1991. It reminded me of an English church with lots of carved wood and fewer than normal statues and paintings of Mary. There were quite a few local women wandering about. There were 2 places where you could light a candle. I didnot choose the nice plain statue of Jesus that had been adorned with a halo of lights,. Along one wall of the church there were the 15 stations of the cross. Quite plain brass ( or something). Under the 14th one was a candle lighting place. At the previous 4 churches that I have been been able to get into, there is a donation box as part of or built into the candle lighting stand. In this mornings church it said 50 cents a candle. I had been in the habit of putting in what ever coin came out of my purse first. I didnot like to be told. As it happened, I pulled out a €2 coin. Fine, I would light 4 candles. This brought to mind a conversation I had with H last November. I asked him why, if we believe that when we die we are with God and that that is the ultimate, why do , on All Saints Day, we pray to God and ask him to look after all the Saints, as in our dearly beloved relatives or whoever? I remember H, in his calm measured manner, take a moment to formulate a response that made sense to me at the time, but that I have now forgotten. I was bothered by that. After a few moments I read the inscription on the 14th station. It said 'Do not be afraid, I am the resurrection'. Ok. I lit one candle from the existing one there, thinking of H, and then lit 3 candles from that first one, thinking of A and their 2 children.
Next was a small chapel next door. I forgot to write it's name down. It was the church of the Black something. I could not get in, it was locked but it was still used for services and for groups. I took a picture through the glass door. A flop, but not as bad a flop as others.
There is a church next to the huge casino that, for some, is the main attraction of San remo. I was amused by the irony. It is the church of the Capuchin, an offshoot of the Fransiscans started by a guy who thought that the Franciscan church had grown away from the founding philosophy and become too worldly. It was like most of the other churches, not particularly to my taste, but had quite a few pleasant almost art deco ish stained glass windows. There were 14 candle lighting stands. I spent ages choosing one and finally decided on a very plain statue of Jesus. I was disappointed to find that it was another electric job, but horrified to find I had no choice. I put my money , only 20 cents, in a box and a candle lit up. So now there are 3 grades of a mission success. Mission Success grade 1 is when I physically get to light a real flame and choose where I put it. Mission success 2 is some sort of electric arrangement that I still have a choice with and mission success 3 is the lowest. No choice and no real flame.
Church 4 today was, unfortunately another success grade 3. An ordinary church in a deserted piazza, but still used and well cared for. There were 10 candle lighting stands to choose from . I chose a stand underneath a fairly modern painting of John Paul II, though it was more a process of eliminating the other stands. I sat for a while and watched the candle stands and what happened when people put their money in. I am fairly sure there is a pattern of which candles come on in which order. So, in theory, if you wanted a particular candle to come on, and didnot mind which others came on, and had a pocket full of coins, you could manage to get your choice. .
So now the mission total is: Success grade 1 : 3, success grade 2 : 2, success grade 3 : 2, flops: 6 and 1 pending. The pending is near me. A funeral was going on one day, a service the next and this morning it was closed.
On my way to the markets today for some essentials -more great big delicious peaches nd more figs, I passed the lady from my lunch restaurant. ' Good morning senora, will we see you today? Hope so'. She said quickly in Italian. Why not , I thought and replied graciously that the food was delicious and yes please. Once again an excellent meal with lots of different characters to watch and listen to and join in with occasionally. I have progressed from Buongiorno status to ciao status.
Russian church, with a spire hidden by the sunlight in the top right.
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