Happy Easter!
On behalf of the whole Cathedral Team, I would like to wish you all a happy and truly blessed Easter. I hope that you will be able to celebrate somehow with your loved ones and I would like to thank all those who have handed in cards and gifts to Cathedral House. We are very grateful indeed!
“Grace: The Church’s Hidden Treasure”: Mondays at 7:30pm Beginning 19th April
Easter is a season of grace, so register now for a six-week course titled Grace: The Church’s Hidden Treasure. It is hosted by the Archdiocese and takes place on Mondays at 7:30pm, starting 19th April.
Sessions will focus on grace according to the teaching of Saint Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologica. It will include an introduction on how to read the Summa, its structure, and how to go through one of Saint Thomas’ articles.
The webinar course is organised by the Catechetical Commission of the Archdiocese and led by Fr Kevin Douglas (St Peter’s & St Columba’s, Edinburgh) and Sr Anna Marie McGuan, RSM (Archdiocesan Advisor on Catechetics). Register here
Exterminating Poverty or the Poor? A Scottish Doctor’s Story: 7:30pm, 26th April
Mark H Sutherland & Neil Sutherland, authors of ‘Exterminating Poverty’, will tell the true story of how a Scottish doctor took on Marie Stopes 100 years ago, and why this matters today. This webinar will inform and inspire those who take up the pro-life fight today. It takes place at 7:45pm on Monday 26th April. Register now on Eventbrite bit.ly/ExterminatingPovertyOrThePoor
Booking Opens Monday, 5th April, 9:00am for Masses for Sunday, 11th April
On Monday, 5th April at 9:00am, booking for seats for Masses for Sunday, 11th April will open on the Cathedral website.
If you need to cancel your booking for a Mass, you can do so from your confirmation email receipt! Scroll to the bottom and click on “View and manage your order online.” Bookings may also be done by calling the parish office, 0131 556 1798. For Extraordinary Form (Old Rite) liturgies, please contact Fr. John Emerson, 0131 332 3750 or jfe1@mac.com. For Polish Mass booking, visit: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/polishcatholicchurchedinburgh
Many Options Available to Support St. Mary’s Cathedral
Contactless
We now have two contactless donation devices in the Cathedral, which you may prefer to use instead of handling notes and loose change at this time.
Gift Aid
Gift Aid is another way of raising money for the parish. It is a government-led initiative whereby UK taxpayers may register for gift aid with the Cathedral and/or with St Andrew’s such that the Government will give an additional 25% of the value of donations made during the year to the charity, at no additional cost to the donor. Many of you are already registered, but if not, do contact our finance officer, Caroline on finance@stmaryscathedral.co.uk if you are interested.
Online
The Cathedral website also has a ‘donate’ button on our website menu that has the added advantage of allowing you to ‘gift aid’ any donations you make at the time that you make them.
Other: We have also now reactivated our page on the ‘easyfundraising’ website which was set up a few years ago. www.easyfundraising.org.uk is a website through which you can shop at various retailers online while simultaneously raising a small percentage for your chosen charity at no additional cost to you! By registering as a supporter of a particular charity (we are listed as St Mary’s Metropolitan Cathedral), you can then search for your chosen retailer and, if listed, open their website and shop as normal.
Parking Controls Begin in City Centre from Sunday, 11th April, 12:30pm and 6:30pm
The City of Edinburgh Council has announced Sunday parking controls will start in the city centre from Sunday, 11 April 2021. The restrictions will apply in Zones 1 to 4 between 21.30pm - 6.30pm.
Cathedral Chandeliers Winching System Installation Begins 6th April
From Tuesday, 6th April the work will begin for the installation of the new mechanical winching system for the Cathedral chandeliers. Thank you to all parishioners who have so generously contributed to the purchase of the new winching system repair effort so far! Please donate to help us meet this expense here
Easter Knitted Goods to Support the Cathedral
Support the Cathedral with purchase of knitted gifts at https://www.kathedralknits.etsy.com
All the profits from all sales are very generously donated by our own wonderful parishioner Joanna Kopystynska to the Cathedral. Thank you for your support!
Weekly Cathedral and Monthly Archdiocesan Updates by E-mail
Cathedral News: Receive the newsletter straight into your inbox Stay in touch with the Cathedral through the weekly e-newsletter. Sign up at the ‘Stay in Touch’ section on the bottom of any page of this website.
Archdiocesan News: To receive a monthly e-mail update from the Archdiocese, subscribe at https://archedinburgh.org/news-events (scroll to bottom of page) or email matthew.meade@staned.org.uk and put ‘subscribe me’ in the subject bar. Here’s the April update.
Gift Aid Envelopes 2021 – 22
Gift Aid envelope sets are now available for collection from the back of St Andrew’s church. Due to the pandemic, many parishioners who had envelope sets last year, have very kindly moved to standing order over the last 12 months. Envelope sets have therefore only been allocated to parishioners where this is not the case. If any parishioners have any queries about Gift Aid envelopes for 2021-22, please contact Caroline Reid by email at: finance@stmaryscathedral.co.uk
Edinburgh Locals Needed for Refugee Community Sponsorship Group
A group of 8-20 Edinburgh local volunteers is being formed, aimed at resettling a refugee family in the UK through Community Sponsorship, “a refugee resettlement programme with local people at its heart.” This effort is a practical way of assisting refugees to safely resettle to the UK through community groups which help the family find a home, secure employment, learn English and access the NHS. If you are interested in this 1+ year volunteering commitment to be part of the core group or to help out on an ad-hoc basis, please contact Orla Hadjisophocleous at orla.hadjisophocleous@gmail.com
For more information, visit https://resetuk.org/community-sponsorship
Home Delivery Available for Catholic Universe Newspaper
The Catholic Universe newspaper can be delivered direct to your home every week, POST FREE. Please visit https://thecatholicuniverse.com/or call 0161 820 5722 and they will arrange for you. Your weekly newspaper can drop through your letterbox for just £99 a year. Or it can download weekly to your tablet or smartphone for just £55 a year.
Read the newsletter for 4th April (pdf)
Happy Easter to you all! Fr. Patrick