St Mary’s Cathedral Edinburgh Church of the Archdiocese of St Andrew’s and Edinburgh

Saint Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral, York Place, Edinburgh, Združeno kraljestvo

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St Mary’s Cathedral Edinburgh is the Cathedral Church of the Archdiocese of St Andrew’s and Edinburgh

The original See of St Andrews was founded before 900; erected into a Metropolitan See by Bull of Sixtus IV on 17th August 1472 and was vacant for 307 years from the execution at Stirling of John Hamilton, eighth Archbishop, on 6th April 1571 until the restoration of the hierarchy in 1878.

It is with the ancient primatial See of St Andrews that our present Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh has continuity. However, the story of the Mother Church of the Archdiocese – St Mary’s – begins during the days of the Vicars Apostolic prior to the restoration of the hierarchy in 1878. See more Catholic shrines and Basilicas in UK

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St Mary's Cathedral Edinburgh Church of the Archdiocese of St Andrew’s and Edinburgh

Bishop Hay, Vicar Apostolic for the Lowland District, chose the site of St Mary’s in 1801. He had seen his Chapel in Blackfriars’ Wynd burnt down by a mob, and hoped that the new site would be a more sheltered spot, protected by the surrounding buildings.

But it was Bishop Cameron who actually opened the Chapel of St Mary’s – designed by the prominent ecclesiastical architect, James Gillespie Graham – in 1814, with the first Masses being celebrated in August of that year.

Under the successors of Bishop Cameron the church was considerably embellished and in 1878 on the restoration of the Scottish hierarchy it became the pro-cathedral of the new Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh.

St Mary’s Cathedral Organ

The new St Mary’s Cathedral Organ was built by Matthew Copley Organ Design of Kingston-upon-Thames and finished in 2007.

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It has three manuals, five divisions, 63 speaking stops and two consoles: one in the West gallery and one movable console for use with the Cathedral Choir and in recitals, where the player will be visible to the audience.

 

St Mary's Cathedral Edinburgh Church of the Archdiocese of St Andrew’s and Edinburgh

Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!

St Mary’s RC Cathedral Organ

The new St Mary’s RC Cathedral Organ was built by Matthew Copley Organ Design of Kingston-upon-Thames and finished in 2007. It has three manuals, five divisions, 63 speaking stops and two consoles: one in the West gallery and one movable console for use with the Cathedral Choir and in recitals, where the player will be visible to the audience.

Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!

The St Mary’s RC Cathedral is located at the East End of Edinburgh city centre near the St. James’ Shopping Centre. The St Mary’s RC Cathedral faces the Picardy Place roundabout which is the junction of Broughton Street, York Place, Leith Street and Leith Walk.

Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!

 

  • Sunday: 18:00 (Vigil), 9:00, 12:00, 19:30
  • Monday to Friday: 10:00, 12:45
  • Saturday: 10:00, 18:00 (Vigil)
  • Holy Days of Obligation: 9:30, 12:45, 19:30

Polish Mass Times

  • Sunday: 10:30, 17:45
  • Monday to Friday: 18:00
  • Saturday: 9:00

 

Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!

The Relics of Saint Andrew
The bones of the martyred Saint were buried in Patras and remained there until 357 AD, when most were removed to Constantinople at the command of the emperor Constantine. From this time devotion to St Andrew spread throughout the western Church. In the eastern Church St Andrew also gained a devoted following, becoming the patron Saint of both Greece and Russia.
In 1204, French and Venetian Crusaders sacked Constantinople. The French removed many relics. (including the Shroud), to Western Europe. To protect the relics of the Apostle, Cardinal Peter of Capua, the Papal Legate to the East, brought the body of St Andrew to his home town, Amalfi, in southern Italy.

Since 1846 the relics in Amalfi Cathedral have produced a mysterious and miraculous oil, called manna, every year on days specifically associated with the Saint – January 28th and November 30th.

The Scottish Shrine to St Andrew
Legend has it that relics of St Andrew were brought to Scotland by St Rule from Patras. What probably happened was that the relics were brought from Rome by St Augustine in 597AD as part of his great mission to bring the Word to the Anglo-Saxons. In 732 they were brought from Hexham to Fife by Bishop Acca, who was seeking asylum with the Pictish King Oengus (Angus). The relics were held at Kirrymont, which was later renamed St Andrews. From this time, the remains of the first-called Apostle became a major focus of European pilgrimage, second only to Compostella. Numbers coming to venerate the relics of the Saint grew quickly.

In the 11th century St Margaret, Queen of Scotland, endowed a ferry service across the river Forth and hostels, at north and south Queensferry, for pilgrims. The relics were initially housed in St Rules Church and eventually in the great medieval Cathedral of St Andrews. Twice a year the relics were carried in procession around the town. Masters and scholars from the colleges, Greyfriars, Blackfriars and Augustinian canons of the metropolitan church and trade guilds all participated. Cathedral and church bells rang and in the evening there were bonfires and fireworks.

St Andrew’s Cathedral

Through the dark ages, and medieval period of Scottish history, the Apostle played a major role in the creation and defining of the Scottish Nation. It was commonly believed that the Apostle Andrew had chosen the Scottish people to care for and honour his relics. And so the patron Saint, the saltire flag, the relics and the See of St Andrew became crucial symbols of nationhood.

On 14th June 1559 the interior of St Andrews Cathedral, including the shrine and relics, was destroyed by reformers who had accompanied John Knox to the city.

The three centuries that followed were difficult for Catholicism in Scotland. Catholic worship was outlawed. The traditions were kept alive in a few outlying glens and islands. Catholics in cities and towns had to rely on visiting priests, trained overseas. Priests like the Jesuit martyr St John Ogilvie operated underground and were put to death if discovered.

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Recreating the National Shrine

On the restoration of the hierarchy in Scotland in 1878, St Andrews and Edinburgh was made the Metropolitan See of Scotland. In 1879 Archbishop Strain received from the Archbishop of Amalfi a large portion of the shoulder of the Apostle Andrew. It was placed in a silver gilt shrine donated by the Marquess of Bute.

On the feast of St Andrew 1879 the relic was exposed here in the Cathedral and a pontifical High Mass was celebrated. In the evening the relic was carried round the Cathedral in a grand procession, including 72 men from 3 different Army regiments, a long line of schoolchildren and 60 altar boys!

The second relic was given by Pope Paul VI to the newly created Scottish Cardinal Gordon Joseph Gray, in St Peter’s Rome, in 1969, with the words ‘Peter greets his brother Andrew’. Cardinal Gray was the first Scottish Cardinal in four hundred years.

Relic of St Andrew
In 1982 both relics were housed in reliquaries designed by Betty Koster and cast by George Mancini and placed in the altar to the north of the High Altar. The chapel, originally dedicated to the Sacred Heart, now serves as the National Shrine to St Andrew, successor to the Shrine destroyed in 1559.
It was here that Pope John Paul II prayed with Cardinal Gray during his visit to the Cathedral in May 1982.

The Icon of St Andrew
In 2004 an icon of St Andrew was donated to the Cathedral. The words on the scroll are the words of St Andrew to his brother Peter—”we have found the Messiah” – in Latin, Gaelic and English.
The icon hangs above St Andrew’s Altar and was blessed on the Feast of St Andrew 2004 by Cardinal Keith O’Brien at a Mass concelebrated with the diocesan clergy.

Icons are part of the artistic tradition of the eastern Church – in western churches we expect to see statues or oil paintings. Icons are considered to be part of the Liturgy in eastern rite and are venerated in the same way we venerate relics.

In eastern tradition St Andrew is shown in green, or in red to recall his martyrdom. The gilding, which forms the background of the icon, represents the mystery of God. The red line at the top of the icon reminds us that salvation has been made possible through the spilling of the Precious Blood.

Reflection
In 1982 Pope John Paul II visited Scotland—the successor of Saint Peter came to visit the spiritual children of Saint Andrew.

Citing the parable of the loaves and fishes the Holy Father stressed that anything is possible with God: ‘St Andrew gave Jesus all that was available and Jesus miraculously fed those five thousand people and still had something left over. It is exactly the same with your own lives. Left alone to face the difficult challenges of life today, you feel conscious of your own inadequacy and afraid of what the future may hold. I say to you this: place your lives in the hands of Jesus. He will accept you and bless you, and will make such use of your lives as will be beyond your greatest expectation! ‘

Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!

History of the St Mary’s RC Cathedral

St Mary’s is the Cathedral Church of the Archdiocese of St Andrew’s and Edinburgh.

The original See of St Andrews was founded before 900; erected into a Metropolitan See by Bull of Sixtus IV on 17th August 1472 and was vacant for 307 years from the execution at Stirling of John Hamilton, eighth Archbishop, on 6th April 1571 until the restoration of the hierarchy in 1878. It is with the ancient primatial See of St Andrews that our present Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh has continuity. However, the story of the Mother Church of the Archdiocese – St Mary’s – begins during the days of the Vicars Apostolic prior to the restoration of the hierarchy in 1878.

Bishop Hay, Vicar Apostolic for the Lowland District, chose the site of St Mary’s in 1801. He had seen his Chapel in Blackfriars’ Wynd burnt down by a mob, and hoped that the new site would be a more sheltered spot, protected by the surrounding buildings. But it was Bishop Cameron who actually opened the Chapel of St Mary’s – designed by the prominent ecclesiastical architect, James Gillespie Graham – in 1814, with the first Masses being celebrated in August of that year. Under the successors of Bishop Cameron the church was considerably embellished and in 1878 on the restoration of the Scottish hierarchy it became the pro-cathedral of the new Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh.

At the request of Archbishop William Smith it was named the Metropolitan Cathedral on 5th July 1886 with all the rights and privileges appertaining to such a Church. It ws also on this date that the decree for the erection of the Cathedral Chapter was promulgated. When St Mary’s was built, however, it was merely a rectangular building with a shallow apse masked by a perpendicular Gothic facade, conveying the impression of a nave with flanking aisles, an example of “finest Gothic, with pinnacles according to the antique, which produced a fine efect on those who admire the style adopted.” In 1841 Bishop Gillis enlarged the sanctuary and had a new pulpit placed in the Cathedral. In 1866 Bishop Strain, at the time Vicar Apostolic of the Eastern District of Scotland, had a cloister chapel built, where the Lady Aisle now is. It was Canon Donlevy, administrator of the Cathedral at the end of the nineteenth century who endeavoured to give the Cathedral a dignity worthy of its name.

1892-1945

He was responsible for major changes. Some of which were made necessary by the fire in the Theatre Royal in 1892. It was he who had the side walls of the church made into arches, with aisles of considerable size on either side. The new aisle on the Lady Altar side replaced the separate cloister chapel. The original saucer shaped roof was left unaltered at the time for lack of funds. However, the shallow sanctuary was extended backwards by three bays of arches. To achieve this the priests’ house in Chapel Lane was demolished and the new property at 61 York Place was acquired and became connected to the Cathedral by a new tunnel built under Chapel Lane.

The opening of the new sanctuary took place in 1896. Seven years later Canon Dunlevy was buried in the vault in front of the Lady Altar. His has been the only non episcopal burial in the Cathedral. In the sanctuary vault are buried all the Vicars Apostolic of the Eastern District and the Archbishops of St Andrews and Edinburgh, with the exception of Bishop Hay – buried at Fetternear – and Bishop Gillis – buried in Gillis Centre Chapel. Monsignor Stuart contributed much to the continuing improvement of the Cathedral fabric. The floor was altered to its present concrete and terazzo form. Likewise, Monsignor Stuart was responsible for the panelling of the Lady aisle, which became the setting for the Stations of the Cross. They were made by Mayer of Munich, as a memorial to the men of the parish who died in the First World War.

After the death of Monsignor Stuart the congregation installed a new High Altar in his memory. The sanctuary was extended to the full width of the nave and a magnificent baldachino built over the altar. In 1932 it was decided to raise the roof of the Cathedral to the present height. All visitors will notice the fine decorative carving on the nave roof. There are angels with outstretched wings in varying colours, spanning the spaces between the clerestory and others, lower down, support the various trusses. Their breasts bear shields surrounded by the coats of arms in heraldic colours, first of St Andrew, St Cuthbert, St Margaret and St David, then of the Vicars Apostolic, Cameron, Paterson, Carruthers and Gillis; then of the Archbishops Strain, W.Smith, A.McDonald, J.A.Smith, A.J.McDonald. The last coat of arms at the extreme end of the Lady Altar is that of Pope Pius XI.

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POSTWAR

The 1970’s saw the next stage of structural changes. The porch and baptistery were removed and replaced by a more spacious porch on part of the old Theatre Royal site. The alterations meant that the original facade of the St Mary’s RC Cathedral was revealed in all its splendour for the first time this century. In accordance with the reform of the liturgy of the Second Vatican Council the sanctuary was remodelled.

A marble fore-altar was acquired from the former Catholic Apostolic Church at Bellevue. The High Altar was dismantled and some of the marble was used to make a podium for the tabernacle directly under the baldachino. A baptismal font placed on the side of the sanctuary, was acquired from a church, now the headquarters of the Bible Society of Scotland. Subsequent to these and other alterations the Cathedral was solemnly dedicated on the 18th April 1978. Before the Papal Visit of 1982 the Sacred Heart Chapel was changed to that of St Andrew. Part of the altar was excavated to provide repositories for two of the relics of St Andrew.

One relic of St Andrew came to the St Mary’s RC Cathedral in 1879 and the other was given by Pope Paul VI to Cardinal Gray in 1969. A prominent feature of the Cathedral interior is the painting surmounting the Sanctuary Arch, of the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven. It is the work of the Belgian artist, Louis Beyart. Over the years, St Mary’s has witnessed many impressive liturgical ceremonies. On 7th February 1828, Bishop Cameron, the founder of St Mary’s, died and was buried in the vaults of the Cathedral. This was the first time since the Reformation that a Catholic funeral of a prelate was publicly performed in Scotland.

In 1830, St Mary’s was the main place of worship for the deposed King Charles X of France and his family. His son the Comte de Chambord was confimed in the Cathedral that year. A magnificent monstrance commemorated this event. At the funeral of Bishop Paterson, who died on 30th october 1831 the presiding prelate was Cardinal de Latil, Archbishop of Rheims. He was the first Cardinal since Cardinal Beaton before the Reformation, to assist at High Mass in Scotland. On Sunday July 22nd 1838 Bishop Gillis was consecrated at St Mary’s. He later presided at the funeral rites celebrated for John Menzies of Pitfodels, one of the greatest benefactors of the Church in Scotland. The Chapter of Canons of the Cathedral was established in 1886 and since that time regularly celebrates the liturgy in the Cathedral.

Down through the years the Cathedral has witnessed the solemn consecrations and funerals of the various Vicars Apostolic and Archbishops. However, there have been other liturgical events of great significance. One of these was the solemn reception of Cardinal Gordon Joseph Gray on his return from the consistory in Rome when he received the Red Hat of a Cardinal. Also unforgettable was the reception of Cardinal Glemp, Archbishop of Warsaw and Primate of Poland in 1985. The Most Reverend Keith Patrick O’Brien was ordained to the episcopate and consecrated as Archbishop on 5th August 1985.

The present Archbishop, The Most Reverend Leo William Cushley PhB STB SLL JCD, was nominated 8th Archbishop and Metropolitan of St Andrews; Edinburgh by Pope Francis 24 July 2013 and consecrated by His Eminence James Michael Cardinal Harvey on 21 September 2013, the feast of St Matthew the Apostle. Each year the Cathedral is also the setting for the Solemn Mass to mark the opening of the Edinburgh International Festival. Likewise of great significance is the annual “Red Mass”,- the votive Mass of the Holy Spirit celebrated to implore God’s blessing and gift of wisdom on the deliberations of the legal profession in Scotland. All these celebrations are supported by the St Mary’s RC Cathedral altar servers and the Choir.

Without doubt, the liturgical highlight of the Cathedral’s life was the visit of Pope John Paul II on 31st May 1982. During his pastoral visit to Scotland he addressed a large congregation of priests, female and male religious in the St Mary’s RC Cathedral and prayed at the shrine of St Andrew. St Mary’s RC Cathedralcelebrated its 200th anniversary in 2014.

Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!

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