Ratiboř

Some constants remain the same - regular Sunday and holiday services are the centre and starting point of congregational life. In addition, there were also worship gatherings during the week. As part of our ecumenical relations, an Alliance Evening was held in January when we were served by the preacher Tomas Hasmanda from the Apostolic Church of Zlín. In March, a group of eight women prepared an assembly for the World Day of Prayer. As part of the adult Bible classes, we meditated on the Old Testament book of Job until the holidays (it took us two years). Starting in October 2019, we plan to study the only prophetic New Testament book, the Revelation of John.

There are also weekly prayer meetings and the choir, under the direction of Mrs. Ruzena Hříbková, has been meeting regularly to practise hymns, and has served at holiday services, funeral send-offs, the commemoration of the burning of Master Jan Hus in Kateřinice, and the celebration of Jan Maniš. This year we rejoiced at the wedding of two young lovers, which took place at the Cross, and at the church during the blessing of the diamond wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Žabčík.

For the children, each Sunday (except during the holidays) the teachers have prepared a theme for Sunday School, which runs alongside the worship service. During the week, the children attend religion classes in the primary school.
and confirmation exercises. The Beetles children's group also met every other Saturday until the summer holidays. Family services are also held several times a year when the children do not leave for their program in the nursery, but all stay in the church. On Sundays.
June 2, there was a beautiful confirmation ceremony for four boys. The youth are involved in preparing for camps, teaching Sunday School, and playing hand bells.

There was a spring weekend for children and youth, a tent camp in Střítež in the summer and the ninth International Camp of Chimes with 60 participants in Kateřinice. This year's chime camp was led by 5 young friends from Pittsburgh with Maestro Richard Pinkerton (our honorary citizen) in the lead. We celebrated the 8th anniversary of the formation of the Bells of Good News (ZDZ). At the end of this camp, as is our custom, a closing concert was held in our packed church. The atmosphere of this event is sumptuous and breathes such hope that we won't be talking about anything else for a long time :)

The youth centered in the WDZ meet weekly for rehearsals. In addition, in February, the ZDZ, Ostrava Handbells and Košariská-Priepasné Handbell Choir held a camp in Velká Slavkov, Slovakia, as part of an Erasmus+ grant (obtained after 4 years of effort). Among the larger concerts, I would like to mention the (200th) Easter concert in Kateřinice (fragments of which were used
in the TV programme "Journeys of Faith" under the title "Return to the Land of the Fathers"). In April, the Bells played in a Catholic church in Ostrava - Hrušov, in May in the village of Věžky near Kroměříž (during the FLORA event), on the occasion of the Night of Churches in Kostelce na Hané and for wedding guests in Solán. What we were looking forward to was the trip of two groups of the ensemble with their accompaniment to the United States (6-16 June 2019). For those interested in this event, I recommend purchasing the newly published book "Bells of Good News Open the Heart of America", which is available at the choirs in Ratibor and Kateřinice and also at the municipal offices. Since Heaven is providing us with a lot of enthusiasm this year, just after our return we embarked on the regional round of the Village of the Year competition (and we all know how golden it turned out :). We didn't get much rest, the news of that lovely gold ribbon came, and with it another match and the planning of an event to present awards to all the award winning villages, an event that took place in the parish garden. Soon there was a service in the church to celebrate the 130th anniversary of the Ratiboř SDH, followed by a handbell camp with a gala concert, a beautiful gladiolus exhibition and we had to say goodbye to the holidays. The day after was the solemn services for the beginning of the school year with the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper. And the undying enthusiasm carried us on relentlessly - we were all tuning up for the national round of the Village of the Year competition. So what? It's here! And... we got it!

In closing this brief look back, thanks to all those involved in making our community, all the clubs, every previously uninvolved citizen and our parish choir live such a rich life. God bless you all.

Your parish priest sends his warmest greetings to you.