St Thomas of Hereford: Celebrating 700 years

The Belmont Community were invited to begin the year of celebrations for St Thomas Cantilupe by singing Vespers at Hereford Cathedral. There was a very good crowd in attendance, and it was a lovely opportunity for Belmont parishioners to join the Cathedral community and guests that day. We were joined by a Catholic pilgrim group from South Shropshire led by Canon Jonathan Mitchell.

St Thomas Cantilupe was Bishop of Hereford from 1275 until his death in 1282. His shrine is located in the north transept of Hereford Cathedral and is still an important pilgrimage destination. He also served as Chancellor of Oxford University and was involved in high-level politics as the Lord Chancellor of England.

The celebration year runs from October 2019 to October 2020. It will include the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams leading a service of Reconciliation, and Lord Pattern of Barnes, the current Chancellor of Oxford University. Sir James MacMillan is composing two pieces of music to celebrate St Thomas.

At the Vespers our new deacon Dom Augustine presided and Dean Michael preached about the significance of the relics of St Thomas. Together on the altar were the three main relics for the saint from Downside (his skull), Stonyhurst, and Belmont.

Further details of the programme of events can be found below, with pictures from the day.

Further details of the Centenary celebrations can be found on the Hereford Cathedral website:

https://www.herefordcathedral.org/news/700-years-of-st-thomas-cantilupe

The full Programme of Events

https://www.herefordcathedral.org/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=269ac3e4-cee1-4f33-9975-05cd750d1ece