Epiphany Mass in Bath - report

For the first time since the late 1960s, a Missa Cantata was celebrated on the feast of Epiphany at the beautiful church of Our Lady and St Alphege in Bath. The church, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in the 1920s, in the style of an early Christian basilica, provides a wonderful setting for Mass. With the recent arrival of Fr Kevin Knox-Lecky as parish priest, the Traditional form of the Mass has been restored to St Alphege’s on third Sundays and holy days.

The feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord was celebrated with great beauty and dignity. The music was exquisite: the choir, conducted by Elizabeth Bates, sang Victoria’s O Magnum Mysterium, and the offertory motet was Reges Tarsis by Palestrina. Of the six servers at the altar, three were brand new to serving, and for two of them, including a young man of 13, it was the first Latin Mass they had ever served. It was a great event for all, and we look forward to more musical Masses at 

St Alphege’s in the future.