The Papal nuncio will celebrate Mass for the first time in Canterbury Cathedral, UK on 7 July, to mark the feast of the translation of the relics of St Thomas Becket.
Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía will be the principal celebrant at the liturgy, which will be attended by the Vatican cricket team. The Tenebrae choir, directed by Nigel Short, will sing at the Mass, an annual event held every 7 July in the Cathedral by permission of the Cathedral Dean and Chapter.
On 29, December 1170, Becket, then Archbishop of Canterbury was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by four knights fulfilling the orders of Henry II, after a long-standing dispute between Becket and the king. Becketwas buried the following day in the crypt, and Pope Alexander III canonised him in 1173.
Becket’s tomb soon drew pilgrims from all over Europe. More than 700 miracles, including healing from leprosy blindness, and epilepsy were ascribed to Becket’s intercession in the decade following his death. Some are recorded in the cathedral’s stained-glass windows.
On 7 July 1220, Becket’s relics were “translated” or transferred from the crypt to a purpose-built shrine at the eastern end of the cathedral. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton presided over the “translation” Mass where the congregation included the 12-year-old Henry III, his aunt, Berengaria of Navarre, widow of Richard the Lionheart, archbishops of France and Hungary, and Pandulf, papal legate to England.
According to some accounts, pilgrims travelling for the Mass from London could lodge for free at inns lining the road to Canterbury, where free wine and food awaited them on the streets. After a solemn procession in the cathedral, the relics, contained in a wooden box were deposited in a gold- plated casket in the Trinity chapel. This was covered in a mesh of gold wire embedded with jewels. In pole position was the Regale of France, a vast ruby donated by the king, Philip II. Iron grilles were later erected round the shrine, to prevent pilgrims touching – or stealing – the jewels.
Becket’s shrine, under guard by two cathedral monks and two clerks, attracted 100,000 pilgrims a year until Henry VIII ordered its desecration in the mid-16th century.
In July 2020, a CGI reconstruction of the shrine was created by the Department of History and the Centre for the Study of Christianity and Culture, at the University of York.
The Mass on 7 July will begin at 7.30pm and include the blessing of the relics. A certificate will be issued for pilgrims, who may attend a subsequent reception with sparkling Kentish wine and chocolates in the Cathedral chapter house and cloisters after the liturgy.
To register to ATTEND the Pilgrimage Mass (registration link also on parish website): https://canterburyjubilee2025.com/
Source: https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/papal-nuncio-to-say-mass-in-canterbury-cathedral/
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