For the first time in southeastern West Virginia in decades, the traditional Latin Mass, used by the universal Catholic church for centuries, will be celebrated on the Feast of the Epiphany, Jan. 6, at 6 p.m. in St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, 163 Walnut Street, Ronceverte, one block west of the Ronceverte Public Library. The public is invited.
Father James Conyers, parochial vicar of St. Catherine of Siena Church, St. Charles Borromeo Church, White Sulphur Springs; St. Louis, King of France, Mission, Lewisburg; Church of Mary Immaculate, Williamsburg; and St. John, the Evangelist Chapel, Sweet Springs, will officiate at the Mass which will be traditional in that all prayers, all music, and all Gregorian Chants will be performed in Latin as the priest officiates facing the high altar.
Musicians will be some members of the Hymns and Hers, the choir of St. Catherine’s, and other volunteer musicians who have been trained to accompany the Latin Mass.
“Years ago, the Alleghany Highlands Knights of Columbus organized a trip to Weston’s St. Patrick’s Church to view the traditional Latin Mass,” noted Perk Berry of White Sulphur Springs, grand knight who added, “We are very pleased and proud to have our Council’s chaplain celebrate the Latin Mass in the Greenbrier Valley.”
The public is invited and the Knights of Columbus will host a reception following the Mass in the Parish Hall at St. Catherine’s.
For further information on the traditional Latin Mass, telephone Father Conyer at 304-667-9043 or the office of the Catholic Churches of the Greenbrier Valley 304-536-1813.