Join a Discovery Day and Night Liturgy on Medieval Worship and the Cult of St Cuthbert at Worksop Priory of Our Lady and St Cuthbert on the weekend of 31st August.
On Saturday 31st August there will be public history talks, open rehearsal and family activities throughout the day, from 10.00am to 5.00pm.
Then on Sunday 1st September, from 5.00am to 7.00am, there will be a Medieval Night Liturgy for the Feast of St Cuthbert.
All are welcome; no booking required. For more information email worksop.discovery.daygmail.com or visit www.tinyurl.com./nightoffice.
The events are supported by funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council and University of Nottingham Arts Impact Accelerator, and hosted with kind permission of Father Nicolas Spicer, Vicar of Worksop Priory.
What is this special event?
Every year on 4th September, the canons of Worksop’s medieval Priory celebrated the summer feast of their patron Saint Cuthbert.
These events and the service will explore this rich history through a mixture of public talks, family activities, music, and worship.
The highlight will be an early morning, candlelit Matins service for Saint Cuthbert, performed as it might have been known some 700 years ago, around the time of Worksop’s famous Tickhill Psalter.
This ancient, meditative service will feature what is possibly the very oldest surviving English music. Composed around 630 AD for King Athelstan, in honour of Saint Cuthbert (above), these special liturgical chants will resound across the Priory for the first time in 500 years.
Schedule
Saturday 31st August
- 10.00am, Church – Tea and coffee
- 10.30am, Church – Family activities
- 11.00am, Gatehouse – History talks
The Office in Medieval Parish Churches – Paul Barnwell, University of Oxford
Cuthbert, Durham, Worksop – Charlie Rozier, University of East Anglia
- 12.30pm, Church – Lunch
- 1.30pm, Church – Introduction to the act of worship
Church and the Night: Bringing a Forgotten History to Life – Henry Parkes, University of Nottingham
- 2.00pm to 5.00pm, Church – Open rehearsal of Night Liturgy
Sunday 1st September
- 5.00am, Church – Night Liturgy for the Translation of St Cuthbert (followed by parish breakfast)