Mungo 1400 or the 14th centenary of St Mungo fittingly ended on St Mungo’s traditional feastday, the 13th January 2004, when Glasgow schoolchildren – accompanied by the Chair (Rev Dr Angus Kerr) and members of Glasgow Churches Together, leaders of the Glasgow churches, and by Baillie Devine representing the Lord Provost Cllr Liz Cameron – planted a fine cherry tree in Cathedral Square. It can still be seen there not far from the St Mungo Museum of Religion.
'This is the tree that never grew, this is the fish that never swam, This is the bird that never flew, this the bell that never rang.'
The very happy ceremony of planting the tree was accompanied by a short service in which Ryan O’Sullivan from St Jude’s Primary led the gathering in singing verses from Psalm 18. The response of this setting of the psalm was chosen to mark St Mungo’s influence, even today, with the words: “Their voice has gone out through all the earth, the word of the Lord is heard.”
The prayer of the day was:
God our loving Father,
You called Mungo from Culross to Glasgow
To live a life of prayer,
devotion to your Word,
and hospitality to your people.
As we, citizens and children of Glasgow,
Mark his 14th centenary by planting a tree beside where he lived,
May we renew our resolve to be like him
in faithfulness to the Gospel,
and in our commitment to Jesus
and his Kingdom of justice, love and peace.
With the patronage of St Mungo, may the city he founded
always be a community in which everyone matters,
everyone has an honoured place,
and the dignity of each is assured by faith in you as Father of all.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
More than twenty schools had taken part during the year in “The Legend of St Mungo”, a Cantata for Schools and had contributed towards the cost of the tree and granite plaque. Representatives of some of the schools were able to be present and were joined very happily by children from Lenzie View who happened to be visiting the St Mungo Museum. Other events of the 14th centenary year included The Mass of St Mungo in St Mungo’s Church, Townhead; The St Mungo Vespers in Glasgow Cathedral; an ecumenical pilgrimage to Culross Abbey by Glasgow Churches Together; and the St Mungo Conversations in the Archdiocese of Glasgow’s Eyre Hall.
