Annual Founders' Day Requiem
Saturday, July 23rd, was the day we celebrated the Founders' Day Requiem, a convenient day to celebrate the transferal of the bodies of John and Josephine Bowes from their temporary resting place at Gibside Hall, Blaydon-on-Tyne, to the church which they had inspired, in July 1928.
Fortunately, the day dawned fine - considering the very wet weather we have been having, this was something of a miracle! The Rudgate Singers arrived early and began practicing at ten o'clock, help arrived to prepare the food-snacks for after Mass, the servers arrived, and Mass began at midday. The Requiem was in the form of a missa cantata, and the choir sang beautifully (more about them later). At the end of Mass we all processed out of church to the tomb of John and Josephine for the Absolutions. Everyone then proceeded to the lawn where a very pleasant hour was spent in the company of all the participants.
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Introibo ad altare Dei
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| The Epistle |
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| Dies Irae |
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| The Gospel |
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| Deus qui humanae substantiae... |
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| Incensum istud, a te benedictum... |
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| Dominus meus... |
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| et Deus meus! |
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| Ecce Agnus Dei... |
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| ..qui tollit... |
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| Corpus Domini nostri... |
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| Procession to the Tomb |
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| At the Tomb |
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| Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna |
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Absolutions
The choir, The Rudgate Singers, travelled from all parts of north Yorkshire and beyond; they sang Victoria's Four Part Missa Pro Defunctis, as well as parts in Gregorian Chant. To commemorate the occasion, this is them:
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Father,
ReplyDeleteIt is really impressive the way you and the parish commemorate John and Josephine each year.
Being a pedantic type of guy, they were originally interred (wrong word,but...) in the crypt of Gibside Chapel near Rowlands Gill.
Congratulations again to all of you for remembering two quite splendid and generous benefactors. God bless.