‘Gaia’ is the name that ancient Greeks gave to their home, their planet. The MISSA GAIA or EARTH MASS was composed by Paul Winter in 1980. Since 1985 it has been performed in the Cathedral of St John the Divine to celebrate the Feast of St Francis on the first Sunday in October every year. Some 5,000 people flock to the Cathedral to participate in the Mass, accompanied by their pets of all kinds,sizes, shapes and smells. Even an elephant strolls into the huge Cathedral to join in this celebration of the Earth, which is led by the Paul Winter Consort and Friends. The voices of wolf, whale and loon join with those of the extended Consort, several choirs, the Dean of the Cathedral, and world religious leaders of all denominations in Paul Winter’s joyous, rhythmic, contemporary EARTH MASS in the world’s largest Gothic Cathedral.