On the morning of January 27, 2015, His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco celebrated Mass, presided over by Archbishop André Marceau, at the Cathédrale de Monaco in celebration of day two of the Fête (Feast) of Sainte Dévote.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images/D. Baverel
On the evening of Monday, January 26, 2015, Their Serene Highnesses Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco attended a special Mass at the Eglise Sainte Dévote in celebration of the Fête de Sainte-Dévote. Sainte-Dévote is the patron Saint of the Princely Family of Monaco, the Monégasques, and the Diocese of Monaco.
Here is the story/legend of Sainte-Dévote:
Tradition holds that she was a Corsican woman born around 283 AD at Mariana. A young virgin, she had decided to devote herself fully to the service of God. By order of the prefect Barbarus, she was imprisoned and tortured for her faith. She was martyred at Mariana by being stoned to death.
After her death, the governor of the province ordered for her body to be burnt to prevent its veneration. However, it was saved from the flames by Christians. Her body was placed on a boat bound for Africa. Gratianus (Graziano), the boat’s pilot; Benedict (Benenato), a priest; and Apollinaris, his deacon; believed it would receive proper Christian burial there. However, a storm overtook the boat and a dove flew out from the mouth of the saint. The dove guided the boat to present-day Les Gaumates, today part of the Principality of Monaco, where a chapel dedicated to Saint George already stood.
Her body was discovered by fishermen. In her honor a chapel was built, which stands in Monaco still. Traditionally, flowers are said to bloom before their season on January 27, the Saint’s Feast Day.
After the Mass the princely couple along with Archbishop Bernard Barsi, members of the Diocese of Monaco, various Monégasque government officials as well as citizens participated in the traditional burning of the boat in front of the Eglise Sainte-Dévote.
Tomorrow — per tradition — the princely family will attend a traditional Mass at the Cathédrale de Monaco then a balcony wave from the Palais Princier de Monaco.
If you missed this evening’s Mass you may watch it again here.
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Photo courtesy of Getty Images/V.Hache
On Sunday, January 25, 2015, His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco attended the 83rd Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo award ceremony held at the Palais Princier de Monaco.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images/V.Hache
On Thursday, January 22, 2015, His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco participated in the 45th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting debate session entitled, Ocean Matters, held at the Congress Center in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.
During Thursday’s session, with the theme focusing on the protection of the marine environment, the sovereign prince noted to attendees that:
“….ocean conservation also involves combating climate change which will be one of the key challenges for 2015. The Paris Conference in December will, I believe, be a “last chance” event in which we all need to become involved. The fight against climate change is now a vital objective for our Planet. We need to create a new development model together as quickly as possible, the only way of ensuring the future of Planet Earth and its oceans…”
Photos courtesy of the WEF 2015
Recently, His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco attended the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Département des Relations Extérieures et de la Coopération held at the Hôtel Hermitage in Monte-Carlo.
On Tuesday, January 20, 2015, His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco along with members of the Carabiniers du Prince celebrated Mass at the Cathédrale de Monaco in honor of the Feast Day of Saint Sébastien. The former Roman soldier who died around 288 A.D. is the patron saint of the Carabiniers du Prince.
Photos courtesy of the Palais Princier
On Tuesday, January 20, 2015, Her Royal Highness Princess Caroline of Hanover arrived at the Villa Paloma at the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco (NMNM) in Monaco to view the special exhibition, Construire une Collection.
According to the official website for the NMNM, the exhibition, which runs until March 21 at the Villa Paloma then moves to the Villa Sauber, displays a:
“…selection of works purchased over the past ten years. The exhibition at the Villa Paloma will therefore feature works by William Anastasi, Richard Artschwager, Michel Blazy, Pascal Broccolichi, Daniel Gustav Cramer, Alain Declercq, Jean Dubuffet, Hubert Duprat, Jan Fabre, Jean-Pascal Flavien, Geert Goiris, Gary Hill, Rebecca Horn, Anish Kapoor, Jochen Lempert, Yinka Shonibare MBE, Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, Su‑Mei Tseand Cerith Wyn Evans. These artists offer a revisiting of form and nature through narrative and form-related ideas, with the aim of re‑appropriating Nature in their own way to give it a new symbolic meaning, opening up a broad area of discussion on redefining landscape while highlighting the relationship between art and science.
The second part of the exhibition will open to the public on March 21 at the Villa Sauber, which has housed the Madeleine de Galéa Collection of Dolls and Automata for the past 35 years until 2009. It will bring together works by Arman, Robert Barry, Christian Boltanski, Lourdes Castro, César, Mark Dion, Erró, Hans‑Peter Feldmann, Claire Fontaine, Lucio Fontana, Loïe Fuller, Jeppe Hein, Claude Monet, Linda Fregni Nagler, Camille Henrot, Bertrand Lavier, Anne and Patrick Poirier, Hans Schabus and William Turner. Most of the works presented here were either inspired by collections or the collections themselves have become works of art or have inspired works of art; in other words, a collection of collections.”
Photo courtesy of Getty Images/V. Hache
The Royal Correspondent 