Harpist Catherine Walker and organist Jacqueline Barrett
A quite distinctive part of the Festival since 2008 has been the celebration in the Mitchell Library of the life of St Mungo by means of a reading from the 12th Century Vita Kentigerni. This year, after some lovely harp music from Catherine Walker (including her own composition in honour of St Thenew – or St Enoch as she is better known in Glasgow) as invited guests arrived, Dr Irene O’Brien, Senior Archivist of Glasgow City Council, welcomed everyone to the celebration.
There followed the singing of a brief section of the Latin Vespers of St Mungo by the St Mungo Singers before the reading of the four sonnets of Jim Carruth, Glasgow’s Poet Laureate, on the theme of St Mungo’s miracles, by a quartet of readers, the last being Jim himself.
The reading from the Vita Kentigerni this year told of the election of St Mungo as Bishop of Glasgow, with Archbishop Nolan proclaiming the original Latin text and Rev Mark Johnstone of Glasgow Cathedral giving the English translation.
The brief event finished with the singing of Let Glasgow Flourish which was performed with clear enjoyment by the St Mungo Singers, joined by some of the guests.
Dr Irene O’Brien opens the celebration
It was good to see that other visitors to the Library were clearly intrigued by what was happening and came over at the end to inspect the copy of the Vita. They were probably even more taken with the sight of the choir and friends descending on reserved tables in the Café to enjoy what has become the traditional “big breakfast” to round off the celebration.
Some of the invited guests including Archbishop Nolan, Rev Mark Johnstone and Rev Janet Mathieson, Moderator of Glasgow Presbytery
