My Dearest Lord (The prayer of Columba)
We had hoped that we would be able to hold our annual Mass of our Celtic Roots in person in St Aloysius this year but it was not to be. Instead St Leo the Great in Dumbreck hosted the
Our musicians preparing for the Mass
celebration, with music provided by the St Mungo Singers with organist Jacqueline Barrett, Mil Zomack of the Focolare Community on violin, cantor Ruairidh Gray from St Aloysius, and Dr Noel Donnelly on harp.
Parish priest, Fr Gerry Fitzpatrick, was joined by Fr Gerry Mitchell from the Jesuit community at St Aloysius, Frs. Bernard Fox and Hugh O’Donnell of the local Mill Hill community and Fr John Carroll of St Mary’s parish, Pollokshaws. Among the congregation were representatives of the Gaelic and the Irish communities, and the Knights of St Columba.
The Mass began with a selection of liturgical pieces in the Celtic tradition including Catherine Walker’s The Trinity of Love and A Prayer of Columba, and Noel Donnelly’s setting of the Celtic Invocation (words by Canon Fennelly/Noel Donnelly).
The first reading was given in Irish by Willie Boyle, followed by Psalm 22 in Gaelic (sung a capella by Ruairidh), and the second reading in Gaelic by Frances Dunlop. Fr John Carroll sang the Easter Creed before the Intercessions were said in Irish, Gaelic and English.
The St Mungo Singers provided more music with a Celtic link, singing Liam Lawton’s lovely The Cloud’s Veil as the Offertory hymn and David Harris’s setting of St Patrick’s Breastplate as the final hymn.
Cantor Ruairidh Gray
In the homily for the Mass, Fr Gerry Mitchell reflected that we were present to celebrate something beautiful, and we try to do beautiful things beautifully – in the liturgy by the use of lovely music and vestments, because the liturgy is a profoundly beautiful thing. The Celtic church was deeply linked into the Latin church and was known for its devotion to St Peter and the Pope, a devotion confirmed by one of the earliest monuments at Whithorn.
He quoted a Celtic prayer which he loved- I am bending my knee in the Eye of the Father who created me… and recalled the reverence of Celtic Christianity for all that God has created. He invited the congregation to continue to do things beautifully and to place our gifts – of music, poetry etc. – on the altar, and to celebrate in the way of love, Christ’s foolish way of loving and giving. He asked that we pray for all that was happening in the Celtic Connections Festival and give thanks for it. Finally ,he said, let the words of scripture echo in our hearts and always rejoice in the gifts, joys and talents of others.
We couldn’t have our usual social gathering in St Leo’s church hall but we could and did give everyone a goodie bag to take away from a lovely prayerful celebration.
The concelebrants at the Mass of our Celtic Roots
