by Gerry Fitzpatrick

Glasgow’s annual celebration of St Mungo was held this year from 9th-19th January. Mungo, or Kentigern, is believed to have been born in Culross, Fife, and died on 13th January 614. He is venerated in the Anglican Communion, the Presbyterian Church, the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions.

The St Mungo Festival grew out a number of events – the annual St Mungo Day Mass, an ecumenical service in Glasgow Cathedral, a celebration of the life of Mungo in the city’s Mitchell Library and an annual school event. Bailie Catherine MacMaster helped turn it all into a festival with Glasgow Churches Together, Glasgow Life and Glasgow’s Medieval Trust.

In the 1980s, when Cardinal Thomas Winning was Archbishop, the Mass of St Mungo began to grow in importance as an Archdiocesan celebration in St Andrew’s Cathedral with an increasing attendance by clergy, the St Mungo Singers, and often harp and ensemble. The St Mungo Singers were founded to promote the development of good liturgical music and practice in the parishes of the Archdiocese of Glasgow, and to give singers an opportunity to enjoy music.

Gerry Fitzpatrick is parish priest of St Leo’s, Dumbreck and director of liturgical music in the Archdiocese of Glasgow