What is Different at Mass?
We are very happy to welcome you back to Mass again, but please keep the following in mind:
1. Face coverings must be worn during Mass. Exceptions: The priest, and children under the age of 5.
2. 2m physical distancing must be observed between households at all times.
3. There will be no congregational singing.
4. Sunday Masses will be shorter than usual, to minimize the time an extended group spend together.
5. For track and trace purposes, everyone is asked to leave their contact details.
6. The congregation is restricted to 50 people. Therefore, you must reserve a place for Sunday Mass.
Our Online System to Reserve Places for Sunday Mass
Due to the Government’s restrictions on congregation size, tickets must be reserved beforehand for Sunday Mass and other popular events. Please visit this page for tickets for Mass in English, or this page for the Polish Masses.
For the 12noon Mass in Ravelston, please phone Fr. Emerson at 0131 332 3750. Tickets are available from Monday at 8am until 5pm on Saturday. Or call the Parish Office at 0131 556 1798. Reservation is not needed for weekday Masses.
Congratulations to Father Samuel Burke, O.P.
This weekend, the Archbishop will ordain Samuel Burke, O.P. to the priesthood here in the Cathedral. Father Samuel has been in Edinburgh for the past year as a deacon at St Albert the Great and serving as Chaplain for the University of Edinburgh. Please keep him in your prayers as he begins to serve Christ and his Church as a priest!
Confirmations this Week
On Thursday the 30th of July, His Grace the Archbishop will come to the Cathedral to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmations for the adults who were scheduled to be confirmed during the Easter Vigil. Please keep them in your prayers in a special way this week!
Our RCIA Candidates can finally be received into the Church!
And next week, the participants in our RCIA program will be received into the Church during a special Mass. They have waited very patiently for this day, so keep them in your prayers as well!
“Rediscovering Catholicism” – A Short Course in Theology on Zoom - Wednesdays at 7pm
Our very successful theology course over Zoom continues. If you would like to join in next Wednesday contact Fr. Jamie as soon as possible on frjamie@stmaryscathedral.co.uk.
Cathedral Podcasts
You can now listen to sermons, talks and messages from the Cathedral as you jog, drive or do the dishes with our new podcast. You can download mp3 files here. You can also subscribe to receive updates automatically on Apple podcasts. Do you get your podcasts from another source? Let us know and we'll try to make ours available there too.
Gift Aid Envelopes - 2020/21
Now that we are able to celebrate mass in our churches once again, we will be putting out the 2020/21 gift aid envelope sets for collection this weekend. For simplicity, we have allocated sets to all parishioners who regularly used envelopes during 2019/20. However, I know that many of you have set up standing orders during the lockdown period and may therefore no longer wish to have a set of envelopes for the current year. In this case, please do not pick up your named set and, if possible, let us know that you no longer require envelopes. You can do this by calling the parish office, or sending a short email to our finance officer, Caroline Reid, on finance@stmaryscathedral.co.uk. This will allow us to reallocate your set to another parishioner as appropriate. Thank you!
Music for the 12noon Mass
Sunday 26th July
Bach 'Quia Respexit' from the Magnificat
Franck Panis Angelicus
Buxtehude Prelude, Fugue and Chaconne in C BuxWV 137 - Buxtehude
Passkeepers needed for St Andrew’s, Ravelston
Due to the Government’s restrictions, we need two pass-keepers in attendance every time the church is open for Mass. We currently have only 11 volunteers left to fill 14 duties per week. We try to not ask anyone to volunteer more than once a week, so would anyone in the parish be able to join the current volunteering list? Please contact the Parish Office if so, you would be most welcome.
Cathedral Fabric Update
The heavy rains this week have caused some problems at the Cathedral. Unfortunately, the recent repairs to the roof of the Sacristy proved inadequate to keep the rain out (!), and our Fabric Team is now looking into other options together with the roofer. There is a risk that we will have to remove all of the slates above Sacristy 1, which of course will be very expensive. However, during sunnier days we have been able to use the scaffolding at the back of Cathedral House to repair and paint the windows there, which will secure them for the future.
Read the newsletter for 26th July (pdf)
Read the newsletter for 26th July (doc)