Last weekend your intrepid editorial staff boldly travelled westward to spend a few days with Rosemary and Jim, ex-parishioners who now live in Neath, South Wales. (Jim is the folk musician and sculptor whose Bernadette now graces the Lourdes grotto at the north-west end of Our Lady of Mercy’s grounds.) On Sunday we all went to Mass at St Joseph’s Church in Neath. Its wide sanctuary often accommodates as many as ten red-cassocked primary school children who between them accomplish all the servers’ duties, while the young pig-tailed thurifer is able to move around easily to complete the incensations fully and with quiet dignity.
Surprisingly, there is no choir at this Welsh valley church, but the Lady chapel adjacent to the sanctuary hosts the music group who accompany the hymns and anthems on a variety of instruments. We are grateful to them for allowing us to photograph them for our blog.
Some of the spectators had dressed for the part, too, and this twelve-year old was delighted to be rewarded with a proposal from the victor of the jousts.
1 comment:
As a new parishioner I was fascinated to see the photographs of St Joseph's in Neath where I made my First Holy Communion in 1954.We moved to Neath in 1953 with my father's job and left in 1972.I do have a photograph of the happy event but am too embarassed to publish it.I am very pleased to see that the Church has clearly been renovated.It had been built in brick in the thirties and I do not remember any work being done on it during our time there.
For the historically minded,in adition to the Cistercian Abbey ruins Neath also has the remains of a Roman Fort and a Norman Castle.
Andrew Sutherland
Post a Comment