Canon David and the concelebrants for the Mas

A Celtic Invocation: words (c) the heirs of Canon Fenelly;  music (c) Noel Donnelly. Sung by The St Mungo Singers

It was hard to believe that we had been celebrating this Mass for 25 Years.  It had started as a way of giving visitors to the Celtic Connections Festival an opportunity to attend a liturgy which linked to our Celtic culture both past and present, and to recognise the importance of religious belief for the Celtic nations.

We took added joy from the fact that we were able once again to meet in person for the celebration and with the bonus of going back to our usual location, St Aloysius in Garnethill, as it reopened after its refurbishment – a three-in-one celebration which was in itself a very Celtic idea.

Outside the church, piper Calum Stewart, played to welcome the congregation, and inside, as we gathered, the St Mungo Singers, the St Mungo Ensemble, and members of the Trinity High Ceilidh Band presented traditional and modern Celtic pieces.  They were joined by St Aloysius cantor Ruairidh Gray, members of the choir of  St Mungo’s church, Alloa and the East End Deanery Choir.

The principal concelebrant of the Mass this year was Canon David Wallace who was joined by Mgr Gerry Fitzpatrick, Director of Music for the Archdiocese of Glasgow, Fr Joe Boyle and members of the community of St Aloysius.  Bailie Patricia Ferguson represented the Lord Provost’s Office, and there were representatives of the Knights of St Columba and the Scottish and Irish communities in the congregation.

Fr Gerard Mitchell spoke for us all when in his homily, he said how good it was to welcome everyone after three years’ away due to the pandemic.  It was particularly good, he said, to have it happening at the reopening of St Aloysius after its long months of refurbishment.  It was wonderful to have music back again.

Reflecting on the lockdown, he pointed out that it highlighted that, for a full human life, we needed to meet with others.  A great deal had been written about building back better communities- and was not that what the Celtic Connections Festival was about in a sense.  Connections are about building bonds to hold us together

Fr Gerry Mitchell gives the homily

The Festival is a time when we celebrate our various cultures, and it is not hard to see why it has flourished.  Music knows no borders or politics.  Fr Mitchell reminded us of the St Margaret Declaration signed between the Catholic church and the Church of Scotland and quoted its words on commitment to live as sisters and brothers in Christ to the greater glory of God.  These are words of connection.

Finally he drew our attention back to the Gospel of the day and the requirement to be salt and light for the world – may we always be this, and may we hand over in the Offertory our lives and gifts/talents to the Lord from whom we received them.

At the end of the Mass, Bailie Ferguson thanked all involved for a very special celebration of our love of music and echoed the words of Fr Mitchell – that it was wonderful that we could come together once again to celebrate the 25th year of the Celtic Roots Mass as well as the 30th year of Celtic Connections.

It would not have been a Celtic Roots Mass without a get-together in the Ogilvie Centre after the Mass, and everyone made the most of the opportunity to catch up over tea, coffee and nibbles.

 

Great God, be near me: music by Catherine Walker (c) Kevin Mayhew. Sung by The St Mungo Singers