Saint Cuthbert

Introduction

In 1889 the parish of Saint Cuthbert in Edinburgh was established, while Pope Leo XIII reigned and Archbishop William Smith led the archdiocese. On 31 May 1896 Archbishop McDonald opened the church that architect J.B. Bennett had brought to completion. The church was consecrated on 30 May 1956 by the archbishop, who was later a cardinal.

History

The area assigned to the parish ran west to Gogarburn and from the Pentlands to the Firth of Forth, taking in Currie, Balerno, Ratho, Corstorphine and Davidsons Mains. Mass was held in more than one place until Saint Cuthbert's School Chapel in Gorgie opened on 27 July 1890.

Architecture and furnishings

Commissioned and built in the first years of the 1890s, the church drew a substantial part of its funding from private donations. After the Second Vatican Council the sanctuary was altered under Peter Whiston, with existing furniture and materials reused in the new design. New seating, a new roof, rewiring and relighting have been provided for the church. Small consecration crosses set on the pillars and walls mark the church's consecration.

Smaller hangings were put up behind the tabernacle and the baptismal font in October 1979. The final two hangings, produced to mark the centenary of the church's opening, hang on either side of the main door at the rear.

Music and liturgy

Instrumentalists and singers in Saint Cuthbert's Music Group accompany Sunday Mass and other services, most often every second Sunday and also on Easter Sunday, Christmas Day, Confirmation and First Communion. Members of Saint Cuthbert's Music Group are asked to come only when they can, rotas are kept only for volunteers who choose hymns and music, and practices are occasional.

Eucharistic ministers assist at Holy Communion, take Communion to the sick and housebound, and lead a Liturgy of the Word with Communion when no priest is present. During school term time, children's liturgy is held on alternate Sundays for children of about five and upwards, and it is an act of worship rather than a creche.

Parish life

Normally two altar servers serve at each Vigil and Sunday Mass. The readers' rota covers four months, and each person normally reads three times: the first reading, the second reading, and the bidding prayers, which the reader prepares from guidelines.

The Social Committee meets at the beginning of each year to set a social calendar and arranges one event each month. Barbecues, parish picnics, discos, quizzes, excursions and walks are among the events held each year. After reaching six assistant priests, the parish is again served by one parish priest.

Notable people and events

Appointment of the first assistant priest came in 1921, thirty-two years after the parish was formed, when Father Kieran Joyce took the post. Monsignor Forsyth served under four archbishops and stayed at Saint Cuthbert's until his death in 1942. The consecration ceremony took more than three hours, and the master of ceremonies became parish priest in 1969.