At our First Choir Eucharist service on Friday February 3rd Fr Mark blessed the Throats of our new Choristers.
After three weeks of existence the Church Choir Choristers invited their family and friends to share a Holy Eucharist Service at which they sung. During the Service, The The Rector Fr Mark Soady inaugurated Choir Church and Blessed the throats of all the Choristers with candles Blessed the previous day at the Candlemas Service. Throat Blessings traditionally take place on February 3rd the Feast of St Blaise. Saint Blaise was the bishop of Sebaste in Armenia during the fourth century. Very little is known about his life. According to various accounts he was a physician before becoming a bishop. His fame spread throughout the entire Church in the Middle Ages because he was reputed to have miraculously cured a little boy who nearly died because of a fishbone in his throat. Hence the tradition of blessing throats on this day, and as it si the day after the Candles are blessed why not use two candles as the instrument of blessing.
Ahead of the Service Dr Rebekah Okpoti and Fr Mark spoke about the pending service on Radio Lancashire. Listen here (start to play at 1.07)
Choir Church is a model for new worshipping communities, built around children’s choirs in schools, led in partnership with local churches. It offers worship, musical excellence, and spiritual formation designed to build and grow congregations, working for social justice. While it is principally school-based, its worship is open to the wider community of parents, teachers, neighbours and friends. We are one of eight choir churches being established in the Diocese of Blackburn. Tonight saw the first Choir Church Eucharist in Lancashire.
Among the hymns sung during the service was the hymn To be a Pilgrim. This year Choir Church at studying Bunyan’s Pilgrims Progress as part of the ‘theological’ element of the teaching programme.
