▒▓████▓▒▓▓████████████████▓███████▓▒

VIGILANCE VIG ILANCE VI GILANCE VIGILANCEVI
V IGILANCEVIGILA NCEVIGILAN CEVIGILANCE VIGI
V̷I̴G̸I̷L̸A̴ ̶N̷C̶E̶ ̴V̵I̶G̷I̶L̶A̷N̵C̶E̵V̴I̵G̵ ̸I̴L̴A̸N̴C̴E̸V̶I̴ ̷G̶I̵L̴A̵N̶C̴E̵V̴I̴G̴
V̸̪̈́I̵̹̿G̸͖̅I̸̙͛L̸̟͐À̴͚N̵͇̍C̶͇͗ ̸̺́Ẽ̴̙V̸̜̅I̵͖̓G̷̩̈ ̸̛̹I̵͚̾L̵̯͝A̷͒͜ ̴̛͚N̶̻̆C̸͉͝ ̸̩̈E̵̞̽V̵̜̿I̷̱̿G̴̳͝Ì̸̮L̸̝͗A̶͖͋N̸̝͐C̵̤͌E̷̱͝V̸̹̏I̵̺͒G̴̞̏ ̶͇͂I̶̼͝L̸͎̐À̷̠N̷͔̈C̸͈̕Ẽ̸͇V̸̇ͅI̶̖͐G̸̮̎I̶̥̐L̸̯̏A̵͖̿
V̵̸̶̶̸̡͕̖̳̣̊̾̈́̓͝I̶̵̷̴̷̛͙͇͉͎̮̓̍͘͝Ģ̵̵̸̸̴͇̮͈̫̄̀̆̓̂Ï̷̸̸̸̸̭̭͎͈̦̊̿̇̚L̵̶̶̴̴̡̹̳̟̬͒̆̓̓̇ ̸̵̵̸̷͓͙͙̟̱̃͛̍̍̊Ą̷̵̷̵̵͈̮̪͈͒̅̄͋̈́Ṇ̴̷̸̸̴̢̲̝͉͋͆̑̽̉C̷̷̶̸̶̪̙̠͚̻̀̓̒̾́Ë̶̶̶̵̵̹̤͍̥̩͂̑̎̍V̶̶̴̴̴͉̘̠̬̂̍͊̃͘ͅI̴̷̴̷̷͈̺͇̟̪̿̉̓͛̓G̷̷̵̴̵̗͉͔͚̯͌̿͑̇̌I̵̸̸̵̵̡̛͍̦͖͇͆̔̂̊L̶̸̸̴̵̨̺̤̝̤̇̍̄̍͠A̴̴̷̶̵̹̖̻̟͈͒̽͒͒̀N̶̴̷̵̷͍͚͕͉̪͂̈̉̈́͒Ć̸̴̸̴̴̡̛̦͔̩̞̈́͝ ̵̷̴̵̵̪͇͓̠̦͆̄̾̆͘Ḙ̷̷̷̶̸̫̩̺̹́̉̿͋̚V̵̴̶̵̶̜̠͎̤̹̒̓̔͘͠Ḯ̶̶̵̶̵̢̤̙͙̻̋̀̽̕ ̷̵̴̷̴͈̬̤͎̰̿̀́̏͝G̵̵̴̸̷̢̳̱̦̏̌̀͋͜͠I̴̷̶̵̶̩̘̮̙̬͐͒̀̀͒L̷̸̷̵̴̳̼̰̯̣͛̔̏̊̿Á̷̵̸̴̴̡̪͎͉͇̓͗̉̈N̴̵̴̵̵̢̦̣͚͙̉̌̀͛̋Ć̵̴̵̸̶̭̯͔̝̤̎̕͝͝E̶̶̸̶̵͚̬̠̪̠̍̐̎̅͠Ṿ̴̶̶̷̴̢̢͇͎̓̃̊͌͠I̸̶̸̶̸͙̙̩̻̳̓̀͗͝͝G̴̶̶̵̸̨̘̙̲̹͗͌̆͆́Ḭ̸̸̶̴̸͕̲̳̹̈́͊̄͐̀L̴̷̷̵̶̟͍̩̖͚̏̑̑̐̕Ä̶̶̷̸̷̧̨̛̮̲̤͗͋͝N̴̴̷̶̷͕̼͇̊̏̄͌̕͜͜C̸̶̸̵̴̪͕̹̝͈̓̆̒͗̇E̸̶̸̷̶̼̠̺͖̿̓̀͛͒͜V̵̶̸̸̴̢̥͖̭̍̒̈͂̚͜ ̶̻̋

▒▒▒▓███▓▓▓█▓▒▒▓▓▓██████████████▓▓▒▓▒

Anyone wanting a quiet space to honour our brave patron saint away from unsavoury influences can now find it just outside the church, North of the garden, thanks to the thoughtful and hard work of Tabby Thackery. Be sure to wrap up warm if you're going to be spending long though, as it's only partially enclosed. I myself caught quite a chill while praying there.

A little chess tournament was just the thing we all needed to bring us together. Organised by Oleander Green, this game evening featured some unconventional play, but nevertheless a good time was had all around. It is unknown at this time whether the chess club will continue as a regular event, so watch this space.

It has been lovely to see the church so full of life lately, I only wish that didn't have to be from people getting stuck there. I'm sure all the new residents would appreciate a little help in turning the church into more of a home, for however long it needs to be. This probably goes without saying, but if everyone could avoid taking any more actions that require them to take refuge in the sanctuary in this way, that would be sensible.

Lucy's brilliant pottery class last week will luckily be succeeded by another one next week! Hopefully our amateur Bexgate potters will be even more skilled by the next event.

In trying times like these, I worry community spirit and faith in God's plan may not be enough to get us through. I'm just as helpless as everyone else to deal with the situation, and the only advice I have to give is these wise words from Takana

“If there is something that cannot be done safely, it is best to not do it at all.”

Stay safe.