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Ship of Fools: St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh, Scotland


imageShip of Fools: St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh, Scotland

Functional, almost perfunctory midday mass amid painted kings

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Comments

  • The painted Kings are,I think, meant to be various (pre Reformation,of course) Kings of Scots,just like the paintings of the various Kings of Scots to be found ion the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
  • Interesting that the kings all have wings like angels.

  • Divine right, and all that?

    50 at a weekday Mass sounds pretty good, and I think FatherInCharge at Our Place puts out flags, and blows trumpets, if 5 turn up during the week! Mind you, we are C of E, and therefore not particularly good at weekday services...

    I note that the MWer was quite impressed by the 2-minute homily. Am I correct in thinking that a homily is required at every Mass in the RC Church?
  • My understanding is that a homily is required at all Masses on Sundays and Holy Days and is “strongly recommended” at weekday Masses “if there is a sufficient congregation, . . . especially during the time of Advent and Lent or on the occasion of some feast day or a sorrowful event.” See Canon 767, §§1 and 3.

  • Ah, thank you @Nick Tamen. Well, I should think a gathering of 50 or so faithful souls counts as a sufficient congregation!

    We get a 2-minute homilette at weekday services, even if there are only 1 or 2 present, although AFAIK the C of E (like the RCC) requires a sermon on Sundays and Holy Days.
  • Nick Tamen wrote: »
    My understanding is that a homily is required at all Masses on Sundays and Holy Days and is “strongly recommended” at weekday Masses “if there is a sufficient congregation, . . . especially during the time of Advent and Lent or on the occasion of some feast day or a sorrowful event.” See Canon 767, §§1 and 3.

    The maxim I've heard in this regard was "one should not break the bread without first breaking open the word".
  • Many priests will 'break open the Word' at a weekday Mass.Our own priest who will have between 30 and 40 present at weekday Masses doesn't usually have a homily unless he finds something particularly challenging which he feels he has to try to explain.
    On Sundays and Holydays he is a most eloquent preacher.
  • This thread will not detour into a general discussion of when and why homilies are preached, will it, now?

    @Amanda B Reckondwyth
    Lead Editor, Mystery Worship
  • sorry,I should not have continued with that detour.
  • To return to the original comment on the 'Kings' I fear that I somewhat misled others by reference to the Kings of Scots. The 'Kings' in question are sometimes referred to as the Kings, the Protectors of the Church,but they are not the Kings of Scots.
    The present cathedral started off in 1814 as a modest Catholic chapel on the edge of the New Town of Edinburgh but in a place where artisan dwellings abounded. Even 50 years ago the cathedral was surrounded by densely packed tenement buildings and would only be seen by those who were looking for it.
    In the course of time the building was extended sideways and in 1932 the decision was takento 'raise the roof ' with angels bearing the heraldic coats of arms of locally recognised 'Protectors of the Church' St Andrew,St Cuthbert,St Margaret of Scotland and. of St David of Scotland. (Margaret and her son David were respectively queen of Scots and King of Scots and give the confusion about the 'Kings', mea culpa !
    The other heraldic coats of arms are those of the Vicars Apostolic and later Archbishops with the final coat of arms being those of the then pope in 1932 ,Pius XI.
  • The MWer said: The stations of the cross were all in a row close together on the north wall, but this must make it almost impossible to do the traditional (?) walk between Stations, singing the verse of a hymn whilst doing so.

    I thought the usual practice was to spread the Stations out all round the church, IYSWIM.
  • The Stations of the Cross came from workshops in Munich (Mayersche Hofkunstanstalt )after the First World War and were a memorial to parishioners who died during that conflict. They are,perhaps somewhat unusually,placed side by side along the wall of the Lady aisle.
    They do not,however, impede devotion for those who wish to make the Way of the Cross.It simply means you do not have to walk so far from one Station to the next.
  • Ah - thank you. I rather imagined that they were too close together for comfort, IYSWIM.
  • Forthview wrote: »
    The Stations of the Cross came from workshops in Munich (Mayersche Hofkunstanstalt )after the First World War and were a memorial to parishioners who died during that conflict. They are,perhaps somewhat unusually,placed side by side along the wall of the Lady aisle.
    They do not,however, impede devotion for those who wish to make the Way of the Cross.It simply means you do not have to walk so far from one Station to the next.

    That's an interesting bit of history. To continue along that line, was the choice of a German workshop intended as a part of post-war reconciliation, or was it either the most competitive or only tender?
  • It is an intr iguing thought and I'm sorry to have no anwer to it.The Hofkunstanstalt still exists,specialising in glasswork.
    On the cathedral website there is a video tour of the cathedral given by two young deacons (now priests) which show the Stations.
  • Thanks - it took a bit of finding, but the photography gave a very clear view of the Cathedral
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