Regular Latin Mass Being Celebrated in Yeovil

Fr Jean-Patrice Coulon who moved to The Holy Ghost Church in Yeovil last year, where he was previously a curate, is celebrating a regular Latin Mass every Friday at 6:00pm. 

The Holy Ghost Church was built between 1894 and 1899 as  the original parish Church of St John the Baptists was closed down during the Reformation and the people became mainly Protestant.  During the Reformation there were only a handful of recusants living in the town and they had to travel to Wincanton or Sherborne to receive the Sacraments.   

In 1887, Charles Gatty, the editor of the Western Chronicle,  a convert to the Catholic  faith who had recently moved to the town, persuaded the Bishop to allow Mass to be said and this took place in his own drawing room, which was converted into a Chapel.  The Masses were celebrated by the Carmelite Fathers of Wincanton.  The congregation soon expanded and the Chapel became too small so in 1888 Charles Gatty rented the Chantry, close to St John's Church.  The Bishop of Clifton celebrated Mass there on the feast of St John the Baptist and this greatly increased the amount of interest shown by the people of Yeovil in the Mass. 

By 1896 Yeovil had a Parish Priest Fr Scoles, (later Canon) who was also an architect and he was instrumental in the development of the new Church.

The Holy Ghost Church was built in the Early English style in rock-faced limestone under a red clay roof.  The Church still retains its original altar rails on the main altar but they were not correctly positioned.

The Mass takes place in the Lady Chapel, if you are in the area or visiting please do go along and support this Parish Mass.