It was seventy years ago that the first Mass was celebrated in Our Lady of the Angels East Leake. Bishop Patrick was asked to celebrate a Mass to commemorate the anniversary.

Whilst looking through some of the history of the church, a natural thing to do for such an occasion, it was realised that the church had never been consecrated.  And so the plan fell into place to both celebrate the anniversary and consecrate the church.

Plans were developed to make the event very special; the liturgy, music, church décor and refreshments all received a lot of detailed attention. Our resident historian Nikki Henning lovingly created a splendid display of old photographs and information covering the past 70 years.

It was a splendid evening attended by over 80 people. This included priests from our Deanery, previous parish priests, guests from the other churches in East Leake, local dignitaries including the Mayor of Rushcliffe Andy Brown, the chair of the East Leake Parish Council Eleanor Robinson, fellow Catholic parishioners from Keyworth and Shepshed and of course some very happy parishioners of Our Lady of the Angels.

The Consecration Mass itself was really beautiful and involved consecrating the church building, the altar and the tabernacle. A special slab containing the relics of Saints Crescens, and Clementia was inserted into the altar.

During his homily Bishop Patrick provided a greater insight into consecration and reminded us how rarely such events take place and how lucky we were to witness it – he himself has only performed two church consecrations before.

Following Mass, there was time for a splendid social gathering with plenty of memories being shared whilst enjoying some lovely refreshments.

A very special evening that everyone who attended will always remember.