Worshippers turned out in significant numbers, despite the rain, to see a traditional medieval thanksgiving ceremony in Moray on Saturday.
The open air service at Kinloss Abbey featured music and liturgy from the medieval period in the Abbey’s history and was led by Bishop Mark Strange of Moray, Ross and Caithness. He was accompanied by the Musick Fyne choir.
Between 50 and 60 people braved the elements for the historic service, the first of its kind in the Abbey’s burial grounds.
The Bishop and his clergy wore white Cistercian robes and delivered a poignant mass. Musick Fyne, led by James Ross, performed church music from the period in Latin.
The ceremony was the idea of Kirsteen Metcalf, who is chairwoman of the Kinloss Abbey Trust, which raised thousands towards the renovation of the church. She also sang with the choir.
Judy Stewart, a trustee, said: “It was absolutely remarkable. It was the most wonderful ceremony in its organisation in the open air.
“The clergy and the choir did the most amazing job, even in the wet weather.”
“It was a medieval mass. It was the brainchild of Kirsteen and she, along with the Bishop, put on a wonderful service.
“It was a religiously moving ceremony. It was a spectacle in the sense that nothing like this had been done before.
“The Bishop and the deacons were wearing the most magnificent Cistercian robes. The mass lasted for about an hour and a half. The choir and James Ross performed the most amazing medieval mass music in Latin.”
Sir James Dunbar Nasmith, a trustee of Kinloss Abbey Trust, added: “The weather was changeable, to put it mildly. The sun shone beautifully at first, but the poor people carrying out the service did get rather wet later on.
“It was very well attended. We must thank the choir who travelled from all over the north-east to attend.”
The trust also thanked the Royal Engineers from Kinloss who helped get everything set up before the ceremony commenced.