St Teilo’s Church at the Museum of Welsh Life in St Fagans will conduct a mass in the Welsh language for the first time in 500 years to celebrate the life of St John Robert Trawsfynydd, a notable Catholic martyred in 1610.
Conducting the service will be the Archbishop of Wales, Peter Smith, the Bishop of Wrexham, Edwin Regan and the former Bishop of Menevia, Daniel Mullins. Students from Catholic schools in South Wales will also give readings at the mass.
Around 150 people are expected to attend St Teilo’s, which was originally located at Pontarddulais until it was re-built two years ago.
Bishop Regan said, "I'm very excited that people from all over Wales will be taking part in the mass and it's a pleasure to have contributions from Welsh learners from the Catholic schools of South Wales,” reports the Evening Leader.
"Our roots as Welsh Catholics lie in St Teilo's and the children can be inspired by this for the future.
"It's fantastic to see this church restored to its former glory and I can't think of a better way to launch a year of celebrating Wales' martyrs than with this mass."
The mass will be the first of a number of events in Wales which will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the martyrdom of St John Robert of Trawsfynydd.
St John Robert was educated near Dolgellau before studying law at Oxford. He later travelled to France where he became a Catholic, and then to Spain where he became a priest.
He took care of the poor in London, despite being exiled many times by anti-Catholic authorities before he was sentenced to death in 1610.
