Statue of St John of Beverley
Bishop Terry To Celebrate Mass At Beverley Minster

Bishop Terry has been given special permission to celebrate Mass at Beverley Minster in a service to mark the 1,300th anniversary of the death of St John of Beverley.

The service will take place on Sunday October 24 at 2pm.

Born at Harpham, between Bridlington and Driffield, St John studied at Canterbury under St Theodore and St Adrian and spent some time at Whitby Abbey while St Hilda was abbess.

Renowned for his preaching and knowledge of scripture, he was consecrated Bishop of Hexham in 687 and became Bishop of York in 705.

As well as being considerate to the poor he was also dedicated to the training of priests and he ordained the “Father of English history”, St Bede, to the priesthood.

St John founded Beverley Abbey, retiring there in 717. His tomb became a focus for pilgrimages in medieval times and he was canonised in 1037.

He is one of the patrons of our diocese, along with Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St Wilfrid of York.

Canon David Grant, parish priest of St John of Beverley Church, was given permission by the Minster authorities for the service to take place.

It was initially planned for May to coincide with St John’s feast day. However, the new date is also a fitting one – before the Reformation, medieval Beverley celebrated the translation of St John’s relics the following day, October 25.

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