Sadly, the terrible war in Ukraine continues and the weapons are so often targeted on people's homes, so although the trauma of fleeing their country is awful, their fate had they remained would perhaps have been even worse.
The Order of St Lazarus internationally continues it's work to support those who have fled for their lives.
The Grand Priory of Great Britain has already sent £2,000 towards this effort and we are now holding a Charity Dinner to raise some more funds.
We will gather on the evening of Friday 15th July for Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at the Chaplain General’s Church in Farington - St Catherine's, preceded by the granting of promotions, etc. An aperitif will be served in the Pope John Paul II Room and then the Grand Prior will host a Dinner at Farington Lodge.
Our guests of honour will be the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire, Charles Hadcock and his wife, Camilla.
Any guests are most welcome to attend any and all events.

An update of some of the work going on that our donations have helped towards.
Peter Tüzes KLJ, Chancellor of the Grand Priory of Hungary writes:
Since the last report we continued and continue to work together with Kolping Society (Hungarian Kolping Association). This week we finished with our 7th transport and like the previous 3, the route was again through Romania.
So far we have supplied app. 20 tons of food, hygienic and sanitary products, baby and women protection packages, bandage, field-beds, sleeping bags etc.
Our supply targets South of Ukraine, where there is no war but are many internal refugees. We had to rent vans and small trucks, and we sent the goods to a Kolping Hospital.
So far 7 from the 20 Hungarian brothers made at least one trip to central or eastern Romania (where we transship the loads to Ukrainian vans), mainly as drivers (jfyi: a return trip has ~ 1700 km and takes 2 x 13 hours).
We continue to collect donations form Hungarian companies and civilians. With the help received from the Saint Lazarus Order, the Liechtenstein Hilfswerk and with other donations we can continue our mission.
In parallel with the supplies sent directly to Ukraine we continue to provide Hungarian Refugee Centers with warm meals. We are in contact with 3 centers, hosting altogether app 90-100 people.
I am proud to tell you, that after more than a month of humanitarian crisis the generosity of the Hungarian society and compassion with the refugees is still at high level. App. 600,000 refugees have entered Hungary so far, 8-10% of them remained in the country.
Let’s continue to pray for peace!

The Grand Priory of Hungary has started to collect food, warm clothes, blankets, tents etc… and the first load arrived to the border last Thursday.
Since then every second day two vans comute from Esztergom to the Ukrainian border loaded with instant food, cans, medicine and lots of hygiene products: pampers, sanitary tissues, feminine protections etc... On their way back the vans take refugies who wish to go to the airport or meet their relatives or acquaintances in Budapest.
The government controls the situation quite well, the border crossing points operate with no significant waiting queues. Schools, sport facilities, hotels not in use, even military barracks in the neighborhood were used and transformed in order to host these people in need. At this time their number is around 150 000.
We are in permanent contact with governamental and charitable organizations to find the best means we can help. This is how we got in touch with two small villages who have received no governmental attention so far, one taking care of 120 and the other of 80 refugees, the later e.g. has now about 50 children. (The above mentioned hygiene products etc. landed here.)
We provide funds to the councils of these two villages so they can give one warm meal per day for the around 200 refugees.

This week would have been much loved Carol Concert held at St Catherine's Church but sadly, with Covid 19 restrictions, it has not been possible to go ahead with it this year. However, the Octavius Choir have put together an online performance, which you can watch and also donate:
What we raise is being divided between:
1. St Catherine’s Hospice in Leyland and to SUROL - those suffering from leprosy in Sri Lanka. This year aimed particularly at providing fresh water there.
We don’t expect that it will enable us to support them in the usual way this Christmas but please do have a look online and share it as widely as you can, so that we can send SUROL in Sri Lanka and St Catherine's Hospice something this Christmas.
Thank you!
To find it the 30 minute online concert on Youtube and donate as well, please go to
Octavius Christmas Celebration 2020 - YouTube (outlook.com)
The JustGiving page here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/oslj-christmas-2020
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the Archbishop of Colombo and Patron of SUROL wrote to us:
“My sincere thanks to all those who continue to support SUROL, especially the Order of St Lazarus in Great Britain, enabling SUROL to bring a ray of happiness to these people, who sometimes feel estranged from society.”

Once again the Grand Priory of Italy has achieved the goal: The donation of a bulldozer to Father Drazan Missionary in Dakawa, in the Morogoro Region, Tanzania which will serve for the creation of basins, for the collection of rainwater and other works for a basin of 22 thousand inhabitants. All this has been possible thanks to the great work done by the Hospitaller of the Grand Priory of Italy Dr. Massimiliano Ungaro, and some benefactors citizens of Cles: Mr. Emilio De Sefani, Dr. Luigi De Biasi, Mr. Ezio Girardi and others who Wednesday 27 May they will leave from Cles, 03.00, for the port of Genoa where the mechanical shovel will subsequently be embarked for the final destination, Dakawa. A big thank you also to all the "Donors" who supported the project and to the Terre e Vita association for the great contribution paid.

Some of members of the Grandy Priory of Great Britain attended a charity dinner run by the Centurions of Merseyside for the Army Benevolent Fund which took place on Friday in the Athenaeum Club, founded in 1799, in Liverpool city centre.
The Grand Priory has supported veteran service men and women through the Centurions and their work for the Army Benevolent Fund.

Members of the Grand Priory of Great Britain attended a dinner at Altcar Training Camp this week, commemorating the Battle of Waterloo (Beef Wellington served, of course!) Hosted by the Commandant of the Camp, Lt Col Gordon Black (seated far right in the picture below), the dinner is an annual event staged by the Centurions of Merseyside, a charity run by Maj Roy Bevan, (Rtd) MBE, which raises funds for the Army Benevolent Fund.
Grand Prior, Chev Anthony Dickinson, presented a cheque to the charity for £1,000 to the guest of honour for the evening, Dame Lorna Muirhead, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside.

Once again this year the Grand Priory of Great Britain kept a Scottish themed evening, raising funds for SUROL, their charity in Sri Lanka (under the patronage of Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith) which assists those affected by leprosy.

Carol Concert this year took place last Saturday at the church of St Catherine Labouré in Lancashire. As ever, the Octavius Choir put on a splendid performance. This year, raising £1,500. Bringing the total for these concerts to £31,500.
Thank you everyone!

Dominik Cardinal Duka, OP, Archbishop of Prague and Chaplain General of the Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem, visited on Wednesday
November 7, 2018 Children's Psychiatric Hospital in Opařany. Together with directress MUDr. Iva Hodková and the representatives of the Order looked at the hospital premises and then blessed the new Volkswagen Transporter, which the hospital bought thanks to the gifts of the benefactors.
The purchase of a new vehicle for the Hospital also contributed financially to the Grand Priory of Bohemia of the Military and the Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem, who has been cooperating with the hospital since 2005 and helped with leisure and social therapy programs in particular. The minibus also contributed to Stavitelství Řehoř, s.r.o.
The Children's Psychiatric Hospital in Opařany is the largest hospital for children with psychiatric diagnosis in the Czech Republic. It provides health services to children with acute problems, as well as those whose illness requires longer and repeated hospitalization.

I had the pleasure of playing my pipes at a wedding this afternoon in Coatbridge Scotland.
I haven't played at a wedding for a number of years so it was an event for me .
The money from the afternoon goes to a charity I have been supporting for many years.
SUROL is a Catholic Charity which gives relief to those suffering from leprosy (Hansons Disease) and their families in Sri Lanka.
The Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem Grand Priory of Great Britain has adopted SUROL as our main Charity and so far we have gifted £110k to them.
The donation from Colette and Steven MacBride today will help to cure 3 people from leprosy.
God Bless you and I wish you a long and happy life together.
We are a very small group of Christians 30 in number in Great Britain we have no connection with other green cross organisations.
Atavis et Armis +++.

HE Anthony Dickinson, Grand Prior of Great Britain, presented a hamper at the annual St Joseph's Hospice Garden Party recently to assist in raising funds for their work.

Thank you to members of the Order who donated various bottles to make a welcome addition to any drinks cabinet!

St Joseph's Hospice is one of the charities supported by the Order in Great Britain, working with Archbishop Malcolm McMahon of Liverpool. The hospice was founded by in the Archdiocese by Fr Francis O'Leary, caring for those with terminal illness. This first small project is the first of many as we work with this local charity, engaging in supporting the life of the Church in local dioceses.

A charity fashion show of the Korunka Luhačovice Foundation took place in Luhačovice (Czech republic). The Commandery Moravia of the Grand Priory of Bohemia donated CZK 23,900 (ca 930 €) to the Foundation. The Korunka Luhačovice has long been helping the sick and handicapped children.

Europe and the Faith :
an inter-disciplinary Catholic conference
30th July to 3rd August 2018
The Grand Priory of Great Britain is sponsoring the Summer Conference in Chavagnes International College and Studium this year, where Order Chaplain Fr Mark Lawler is the Chaplain and also one of the speakers (G K Chesterton as his subject).
Although set in the beautiful and historic Vendée in the west of France, the College classes are taught in English (for boys of secondary age and now also at degree level at the Studium there). The Conference is also in English.
The Grand Priory is sponsoring the College Conference because it is a place of truly Christian education, where the Faith is an integral part of daily life and the boys are taught to embrace the Faith with both joy and courage. It is also hoped that those attending the Conference might be a good audience among which to promote the work of the Order - approaching people already interested in their Faith. The Order will have an active presence at the Conference, with our Grand Prior, Chaplain General and at several other members - and prospective members - hoping to be present.
Joseph Pearce will be the Keynote Speaker - “The Catholic vision of JRR Tolkien” - at the Summer Conference in Chavagnes, France, this year. Now in its third year, the Conference has proved to be a lively and interesting event in a convivial atmosphere, with daily Mass and visits to local places of Catholic interest.
Although in France (Nantes is the nearest airport) the Conference talks take place in English (which is also the language in which the College and Studium teach their secondary and tertiary students.)
JOSEPH PEARCE is a senior fellow at The Cardinal Newman Society and editor of its journal. He is a senior contributor at The Imaginative Conservative and senior editor at the Augustine Institute. Up until recently, Director of the Center for Faith and Culture at Aquinas College in Nashville, Tennessee he was previously on the staff of Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire, Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, Michigan and at Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Florida. His books include biographical works on C.S. Lewis, Shakespeare, Tolkien, Chesterton, Wilde, Solzhenitsyn and Belloc. He is a visiting professor for the Studium’s new Liberal Arts degree being launched in September 2018.
"A man’s view of himself is not an “aspect:” it is a comprehension. Now then, so it is with us who are of the Faith and the great story of Europe. A Catholic as he reads that story does not grope at it from without, he understands it from within. He cannot understand it altogether because he is a finite being; but he is also that which he has to understand. The Faith is Europe and Europe is the Faith.” Hilare Belloc
You can find out more about the Conference (which is very reasonably priced and will also provide transport to and from Nantes Airport) - as well as an online booking form at:
http://chavagnes.org/conferences/

Meeting at Liverpool Cathedral with Archbishop Malcolm McMahon with staff and students from Chavagnes International College and members of the Order of St Lazarus, http://www.oslj.org.uk/ - who are sponsoring the College's Summer Conference. http://chavagnes.org/conferences/

A very well attended Burns' Night Supper took place (a little after the poet's birthday - we take it as a moveable feast) at Leyland in Lancashire (not quite Scotland but far enough North to be well on the way). A very enjoyable evening, raising £600 for the charitable causes of the Grand Priory of Great Britain. Attended by members and friends of the Order, as well as some prospective postulants. Thank you to everyone who came along.

The exhibition of photos from "Camino on wheels" in the crossing hall of Prague Karolinum was opened by a festive opening on Monday 5 February. "Camino on wheels" was a pilgrimage of wheelchair-bound Honza Dušek and his friends to Santiago de Compostela. The Grand Priory of Bohemia was the main patron of the pilgrimage. The attendant was first welcomed by the organizer "Camino on wheels" and exhibitor Petr Hirsch. After the vernissage, the discussion with Honza Dušek and Petr Hirsch followed with short films and photographs exhibition that consisted of 29 photographic panels documenting the story, joy and sorrow, each day of "Camino on wheels". Honza Dušek and Petr Hirsch are from May 2017 companion members of the Order (CompLJ).

Reading for child patients from the Children Mental Hospital in Opařany (south Bohemia), with writer Irena Fuchs. “Reading in Opařany” is a permanent charity activity of the Grandy Priory of Bohemia – famous actors and other artists read short stories to patients of Children Mental Hospital in Opařany.

We are planning to celebrate Burns’ Night again this coming year - for practical reasons, a little after the actual date -
ours will take place on Friday 2nd March
starting at 7.30pm.

This has been an excellent evening over past years with all the traditional Scottish ceremony and traditions associated with the evening - though you don’t need to be Scots to come along!
Tickets are just £25 per head
which is terrific value considering all you get.

The event is to raise Charitable Funds, so come along and support it whilst having a great evening’s fun.


WHAT YOU WILL EXPERIENCE…

Traditional Piping in o’ the Haggis.
A Tartan sash for each of the Ladies.
A cocktail on arrival.
Three-course traditional Burns’ Night Fare consisting of:
Scotch Broth
Haggis wi’ Bashit Neeps & Champit Tatties
Pudding of Clootie Dumpling.
Wine with the meal.

Whisky for the various toasts
The address to the Haggis
The Toast to the Lassies
The Reply from the Lassies
“Entertainments” in song & verse in keeping with the evening.
Tickets available from Fr Simon Henry at St Catherine's
or via the Secretary, Chev. Anthony Dickinson.

Everyone welcome.

Dress: - Black Tie and Dinner Jacket - or suit and tie.

Equivalent for Ladies.

On Tuesday December 19th , a traditional Advent concert took place at the Children's Psychiatric Hospital in Oparany. Musica da Chiesa, a pair of top musicians, P. Jaroslav Konečný and Tomas Najbrt, who have dominated a wide range of different historical musical instruments, came out. Their music was a pleasant pre-Christmas experience for the hospital patients and other guests.
The concert was organized by the Grand Priory of Bohemia of the Military and Hospital Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem. The Grand Priory of Bohemia cooperated with the Oparany Hospital for 11 years and among other things it helped with organizing concerts, reading for children and a Christmas bazaar to support the hospital. This year's concert was already the thirteenth in a row.

Lazarian Help, an organization established by the Grand Priory of Bohemia for charity activities, collected gifts for abandoned seniors at the time of Advent. More than 200 packages were earned. The gifts will be distributed through the civic association Korunka Luhačovice.

TV Interview of Sir Nick Silverio, Knight of Saint Lazarus & founder of "Save Haven for Newborns" on EWTN, Catholic Network.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ4hgIzIV7c About: A Save Haven for Newborns is charitable activity of the Grand Priory of the USA. A Safe Haven for Newborns is dedicated to reaching pregnant girls and mothers before they reach the crisis stage.

The exhibition of paintings and porcelain paintings by Academic painter Helena Schmaus Shooner, was officially opened at the Municipal Museum in Bechyně (Czech Republic) on Saturday 10 June. The exhibition is called "Fairy tales and Children". The exhibition also includes ceramics and paintings of children from arteterapeutical studios of Children´s Psychiatric Hospital in Opařany.
Part of the proceeds from the sale of products will support this hospital. The exhibition is held under the auspices of the Canadian Embassy in the Czech Republic and with the support of a number of sponsors, including the Grand Priory of Bohemia of the Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem.

Seven years after the earthquake that hit L’Aquila on April 6 th 2009, Italy cries again. This time for the victims caused by the tremor occurred on August 24 th 2016, which stroke the Centre of the country. 283 people lost their lives and 2500 lost their home, with towns like Amatrice partially destroyed and Accumoli and Arquata del Tronto completely razed to the ground. Castelluccio, Norcia, Montereale, Pescara del Tronto and Rieti are only ones among the many that were seriously damaged.

The Grand Priory of Italy, as it had already done in similar circumstances in the past, activated itself in order to gather funds and humanitarian aid. To the call, with great solidarity, answered: the Municipal Administration and the Citizens of Cis (a town in Trentino), the Parish and Pastoral Committee of Cis, the Fire Departments of Cis and Coredo, the Alpinos Group of Cis, the Voluntary Bodies of the Non Valley, the 118 Voluntary Body of Cles, the Citizens of Pergine, Trento, Non Valley, Sole Valley, Vicolo Vattaro, Stringo and Scurelle.

We managed to gather any kind of aid, together with an initial sum of about 18,000.00 Euros.

On January 27 th , a first shipping, coordinated by our Hospitaller Dr. Massimiliano Ungaro and by the Fire Department of Cis Commander Oscar Betta, was delivered to some of Amatrice’s and Campotosto’s inhabitants. A second shipping was accomplished on February 5 th.

During the celebrations for Saint George, the saint patron of Cis, on April 23 rd , His Excellence Giovanni Ferrara, Grand Prior of Italy, publicly thanked the Municipal Administration of the town, as well as all the Voluntary Bodies and the Associations that made this remarkable act of solidarity possible, delivering them a certificate of merit and Grand Priory of Italy Medals of the Saint Lazarus Order.

A highly succesful belated Burns Night Supper was held by the Grand Priory of Great Britain on Friday night.
The venue was the conventual church of the Grand Priory, St.Catherine Labouré in Farrington in Lancashire.
The event was held to raise emergency funds for our International Charity SUROL, who care for leprosy sufferers and their families in Sri Lanka,after more, hitherto unknown leprous patients, were discovered in the north of Sri Lanka.
We raised over £1000 to help them.
We continue to help those most in need.