St Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral interior, Edinburgh

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, also known as St Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral, is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

church in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It is the seat of the

Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh The Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh. The archdiocese covers an area of 5,504 km2. The metropolitan see is in the City of Edinburgh where the archbishop's ...

and the

mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral or a metropo ...

of Scots Catholicism. The cathedral

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

is located at the East End of New Town in the city centre.

History

The Chapel of St Mary's was opened in 1814, and was originally designed by

James Gillespie Graham James Gillespie Graham (11 June 1776 – 11 March 1855) was a Scottish architect, prominent in the early 19th century. Life Graham was born in Dunblane on 11 June 1776. He was the son of Malcolm Gillespie, a solicitor. He was christened as J ...

. The church was considerably embellished over the years, and in 1878 on the restoration of the Scottish hierarchy it became the

pro-cathedral A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefecture or apostoli ...

of the new Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh. It was renamed the Metropolitan Cathedral on 5 July 1886 with all the rights and privileges appertaining to such a church. It contains the National Shrine of St. Andrew.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

visited St Mary's in May 1982 as part of his pastoral visit to Scotland.

Architecture

The cathedral was designed in 1813–1814 in the neo-perpendicular style by

, with additional designs by

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

. In 1892 a fire at the neighbouring Theatre Royal required changes to the cathedral. Arches were made in the side walls and aisles were added on both sides, designed by John Biggar. The sanctuary was extended backwards by three bays of arches. The war memorial and high altar were added in 1921, designed by Reginald Fairlie. A

baldachino A baldachin, or baldaquin (from it, baldacchino), is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over h ...

was added in 1927. In 1932 the height of the roof was increased by Reid and Forbes. In the 1970s the front of the cathedral was opened up due to the demolition of tenement buildings. The porch and baptistery were replaced by a larger porch, designed by T. Harley Haddow, and the sanctuary was remodelled to meet the requirements of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

Music

The ''Schola Cantorum'' has eight singers and sings a wide range of sacred music including

plainchant Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ''plain-chant''; la, cantus planus) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text ...

, renaissance polyphony and modern compositions. In addition, there is a mixed-ability cathedral choir. A new organ was installed in 2008, built by Matthey Copley and having 4,000 pipes. The Director of Music is Michael Ferguson, who also teaches at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

and is a composer. The organist is Simon Leach. Concerts and recitals were held in the cathedral during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 2009 to 2016.

Current clergy

*Mgr Patrick Burke, VG (administrator); Fr Robert Taylor * Fr Tadeusz Puton SAC (non-resident), Chaplain of the Polish Mission

Parish organisation

From 2017 the many parishes in Edinburgh have been organised into clusters to better coordinate their resources. St Mary's Cathedral is one of four parishes in Cluster 1 along with Ss Ninian and Triduana, St Patrick and St Albert.

Cafe Camino

The cathedral formerly operated a cafe in an adjoining building. It was used as a venue as part of the Free Fringe at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

References

External links

*
St Mary's Cathedral former organist's website

Sacred ScotlandCafe Camino

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS)

The Scottish Catholic Archives

Scottish Catholic Historical Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mary, Edinburgh, Saint Listed churches in Edinburgh Roman Catholic cathedrals in Scotland Roman Catholic national shrines Roman Catholic churches in Edinburgh Category B listed buildings in Edinburgh Listed cathedrals in Scotland James Gillespie Graham buildings Roman Catholic churches completed in 1814 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Roman Catholic shrines in the United Kingdom Religious organizations established in 1814