Archbishop Leo Cushley’s 40th Anniversary of Priesthood
His Grace, Archbishop Leo Cushley, will celebrate the Noon Mass today in thanksgiving for his 40th anniversary of priesthood. We offer our prayers and congratulations on this significant anniversary! The Archbishop was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Motherwell on 7 July, 1985. After serving as a priest for several years he was invited to join the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He has worked in Burundi, Portugal, South Africa, Namibia, Swaziland, Lesotho and Botswana. He was First Secretary for the Holy See’s Observer Mission to the United Nations in New York from 2004 to 2007. From 2009 to 2013 he served in the Vatican and was head of the English-language section of the Secretariat of State. He was installed as the 8th Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh in 2013.
Cathedral Building Fund
We’ve raised £225,000 so far which is amazing! Thank you! Can you help us to reach our target of £500,000 for this round of works to the sacristy and chancel roofs and adjacent stonework?
Summer Second Collections – On weekends during the summer we will be taking a second collection for the building fund. The dates are this weekend, 2/3 August and 16/17 August. There will be some Building Fund envelopes for you to use if you wish to Gift Aid your donation. You can pick these up at the back of the church.
Donations are gratefully received at any time and can be made:
You can donate by cash/cheque sent to the Parish Office (61 York Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3JD).
Do please remember to Gift Aid if you are a UK taxpayer.
Match funding in July and August
We are so grateful to an extremely generous benefactor who has offered to match all money raised for the Cathedral roof in July and August up to £50,000. So do please give as generously as you can to the Summer Appeal and double your money!
Marriage Preparation Courses
The next parish Marriage Preparation Courses are Saturday, 16th August and Saturday, 22nd November, both at St Andrew’s, Ravelston (EH4 3DS), with presentations by married couples. To register, please email cathedralhouse@stmaryscathedral.co.uk
Saturday Morning Mass, Confession and Eucharistic Adoration
Weekly Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is held at the Cathedral on Saturday mornings, immediately after the celebration of 10:00am Mass. Adoration is from 10:30am-12:00pm concluding with Benediction, with Confession available during that time. Come for 30 minutes, 1 hour…. or more to adore the Lord Jesus, truly present for us in the Eucharist.
“If you seek an example of charity, greater love no man hath than that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 25:13), and this Christ did on the cross.” (St. Thomas Aquinas)
Legion of Mary – Students & Professionals Group
The Legion of Mary is a lay association of Catholics which seeks to help its members grow in holiness through devotion to Our Lady and by carrying out works of mercy. All are welcome to join. Our presidium name is Our Lady Cause of our Joy. We meet every Monday at 7:00 pm at 63 York Place, Edinburgh EH1 3JD. We are a group of mixed male and female members, students and professionals and from different countries, cultures. For more information contact phone number: Monika – 07751213612, Emmy – 07879074240.
Tuesday 12 August: “Faith in the Footlights” as part ofthe Edinburgh Festival of the Sacred Arts
Musical theatre is often dismissed as trivial, shallow and essentially secular. Professor Ian Bradley challenges this, arguing in his book You’ve Got to Have a Dream that “musicals provide millions of people across the world not just with entertainment and escapism but with spiritual and theological values, a philosophy of life and an encounter with God”. On 12 August at 7:30pm, join Professor Bradley and the Cathedral’s Schola Cantorum for a special concert exploring the spiritual implications of some of our best-loved musicals. The concert is the fourth in our series of yearly partnerships with the Edinburgh Festival of the Sacred Arts, and follows the very successful sacred jazz event last summer. Tickets are £18 (£12 concession) and are available from the Fringe Box Office, Eventbrite, or on the door. Book here: https://bit.ly/FaithFootlights
Friendship Group: Coffee Afternoon
The Friendship Group Coffee Afternoon is on Tuesdays 2:00pm-3:30pm in Coffee Saints. Open to all over 60; enjoy a 20% discount during the session time. Please come along and join us!
St. Andrew’s, Ravelston: Wednesday Adoration, Confession and Mass
Especially in this Jubilee Year of Hope, all are encouraged to come for Eucharistic Adoration and begin a regular practice of coming to Confession. Every Wednesday at St. Andrew’s, Ravelston we have Eucharistic Adoration with Confessions 5:00pm-5:45pm, followed by 6:00pm Mass.
Hope Dawns: A Retreat to Prepare for Advent
Thanks to so many who have expressed interest in our two-night Advent Retreat to be held 14th -16th November at the Schoenstatt Shrine near Milton of Campsie. The retreat, considering the Jubilee Year theme of Hope in Advent, will begin at 3pm on Friday, 14th November and conclude at 3pm on Sunday, 16th November. The retreat centre at Schoenstatt is a well-appointed house run by a welcoming community of religious sisters and staff https://www.schoenstatt.co.uk) If you would like to attend, there is still time to let us know of your interest and if would require coach transport to and from Schoenstatt. To register, visit https://bit.ly/Schoenstatt-Advent2025 or email cathedralhouse@stmaryscathedral.co.uk call the office 0131 556 1798
St Pauls Bookshop: Bibles, Children’s Books, Rosaries, Cards and More!
Visit our St. Pauls Bookshop for Bibles, a wide variety of books on the saints and various spiritual classics, beautiful rosaries, holy cards, many children’s books on Jesus and the saints, as well as statues and paintings of Jesus and Mary. Visit the second-hand bookshelf, too. Donations of used Catholic books in good condition are welcome! Framed photos of Pope Leo XIV, A4 (£18.50) & A3 (£29.95). Open daily 10am-5pm. 0131 510 4260, edinburgh@stpauls.org.uk
Save the Date: Festival Mass
Sunday, 10 August: His Grace, Archbishop Cushley, will celebrate the annual Festival Mass at Noon at the Cathedral. Join us at the start of the week of our Cathedral’s patronal feast - the Assumption, which falls on 15th August – during Edinburgh’s International Festival.
Disabled Parking for Blue Badge Holders
If you have a Blue Badge for disabled parking, drive to Mass and would like to use the St. James’ Car Park for Sunday morning Mass at the Cathedral, please fill out a form at the back of Church and return it to the Office, or email your name, contact details, parking permit number, expiry date and car registration number to cathedralhouse@stmaryscathedral.co.uk The Car Park offers free disabled parking on Sundays, 8:30am-1:30pm. Outside of those hours, normal parking fees will apply.
Weekly Cathedral and Monthly Archdiocesan Updates By E-Mail
Cathedral News: Receive the Cathedral 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 www.stmaryscathedral.co.uk, or bookmark this page in your browser Archdiocesan News: For a monthly e-mail update from the Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh, subscribe at https://archedinburgh.org/news-events (scroll to bottom of page).
Book on Life Story of 'Hibs priest' Set for Launch
The life story of the Edinburgh priest who helped found Hibernian FC and who served the poor and destitute in the city will be released 6 August. Edinburgh’s First Hibernian by Mike Hennessy, a native of Edinburgh, is the first biography of Fr. Edward Hannan, who rose from poverty in rural Ireland to become one of the most influential figures in 19th-century Edinburgh. While parish priest at St Patrick's in the Cowgate, he worked tirelessly in the medieval Old Town to provide Catholic boys with an education and a sense of fulfilment that could save them from falling into a life of crime. The book can be bought online at Thirsty Books, https://www.thirstybooks.com/bookshop/edinburghs-first-hibernian Signed copies will be available from St Patrick's Church in The Cowgate, which will receive proceeds from those sales.
Polish Memorials Conservation Programme, Summer 2025
Please note that a team of Polish conservationists together with Polish scouts training in conservation will work within Mount Vernon Cemetery 7th-16th August on Polish memorials throughout the cemetery. This may include cleaning, re-erecting and re-gilding. If you do not wish your family memorial to be included in the programme please contact cemetery manager, Anna Kulwicka, on 0131 623 8906 by 6th August, 2025.
Postcards: Join the Fight Back – Every Life Matters
Pick up a postcard at the back of church from the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children to get your Action Pack with details about what you can do to help defend life at this critical time: in the space of one week in June 2025, MPs voted to allow women to abort their baby up to birth for any reason. Life is under attack at every stage. But we must work to build culture of life, because every life matters.
Launch of ‘Ecumenical Edinburgh City Centre Historic Churches Walking Trail Guide’
A walk is planned around all the 10 participating churches for a new ‘Ecumenical Edinburgh City Centre Historic Churches Walking Trail Guide’, including St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral. The walk will be launched on Thursday, 24th July with a group leaving from St Giles' Cathedral, High St, Edinburgh EH1 1RE, at 10.30am to walk the trail and drop off leaflets including the trail guide at each of the churches if open, ending at St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Palmerston Place, EH12 5AW. Come along to St. Giles for 10:30am, Thursday, 24th if you would like to join the walk, estimated at approximately 2 hours.
World Day for Grandparents & the Elderly
To celebrate this day, the National Marriage, Family and Life Commission of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland invites everyone to St Francis Xavier’s Church, Taylor Avenue, Carfin, ML1 5AJ, for Mass with Bishop John Keenan at 3:00pm on Sunday 27 July.
National Pilgrimage to Carfin
The National Pilgrimage takes place at Carfin Grotto, Scotland’s National Shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes, on Sunday 7 September at 3:00pm. Archbishop Leo will be the principal Celebrant and Preacher. On this day Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, will be canonised so it is an ideal day for the Scottish Catholics to come together to celebrate. Learn more about Carfin Grotto at https://www.carfingrotto.org/ The grotto is in the Parish of St Francis Xavier in the village of Carfin, near Motherwell, ML1 5AJ.
Save the Dates
The Archdiocesan Day for Altar Servers is on Saturday 13 September at The Gillis Centre, 100 Strathearn Road, Edinburgh. Details to follow.
The National Youth Pilgrimage to Perth is on Saturday 20 September. Details to follow.
His Grace, the Archbishop, will celebrate the annual Red Mass at Noon on Sunday 21 September here at the Cathedral. The Mass will see members of Scotland’s legal fraternity come together for the for the Mass, marking the start of the new legal year.
A relic of ‘God’s influencer’, Blessed Carlo Acutis who will be canonised by Pope Leo XIV on 7 September, will visit St Mary’s Cathedral from Saturday 13 to Monday 15 September. Save the dates!
Are You a Catechist?
Learn about events and resources and collaborate with the Archdiocesan Catechetics Commission by registering for the Catechist Contact List. Go to bit.ly/archcatechists. This is for anyone involved in teaching the faith - such as RCIA, Children's Liturgy, First Holy Communion, Marriage prep, SPRED etc.
Venerable Margaret Sinclair
The Centenary Pilgrimage to pray for the Beatification of the Venerable Margaret Sinclair will take place on Sunday 21 September from 12:30-6:00pm at St Patrick's Church, Cowgate, Edinburgh, EH1 1NA. 12.30-1.30 Refreshments & sale of candles/goods; 1:30-2:30pm Holy Hour; 3:00-4:00pm Reflection; 4:30pm: Holy Mass concelebrated with Archbishop Leo. Confessions available all day. Details on Venerable Margaret Sinclair are available at https://www.margaretsinclair.scot/
Study Catholic Theology in Edinburgh
Registration is now open for the MA in Applied Catholic Theology at St Mary's University Scottish campus in Edinburgh. Details at bit.ly/catholictheology. Watch the preview webinar on the YouTube channel of the Archdiocese. Queries: stephen.dolan@stmarys.ac.uk. Develop your theological literacy through the study of topics including biblical interpretation, Christian anthropology, the foundations of Christian spirituality, spiritual direction, Catholic social teaching and systematic theology.
Visit Coffee Saints Café Today!
Our very popular Coffee Saints café is a social enterprise partnership between the Cathedral and the Grassmarket Community Project. This means that every time you make a purchase at Coffee Saints you support some of Edinburgh’s most vulnerable people. Browse the menu at https://www.coffeesaints.co.uk/. The café is open 7 days a week 8:30am-4:00pm! You can book online through itison for a cake, brunch or tea for two at https://bit.ly/CoffeeSaintsDeals