Sacred Heart Vespers

The Sacred Ministers, Schola (seated) and Servers after Vespers

On 18th June the Schola sang Vespers and Benediction for the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Mgr Michael Regan, the Chaplain of the Schola (centre of photo), officiated and was assisted by Fr Paul Francis Spencer CP, Fr John Emerson FSSP, Fr Neil Ferguson OP and Fr Gerard Byrne (pictured in copes from left to right respectively). We are most grateful to them all for their contributions.

The more solemn form of Vespers was a most fitting celebration of this much loved feast. We are looking forward to celebrating the Feast of the Assumption with even greater solemnity on 15th August for the patronal feast of the Cathedral. We are also looking forward to our next event, which will be Solemn Vespers for the Transfiguration of Our Lord on 6th August at 6:45pm.

Photo: Claire Hamid

Welcome!

Welcome to the blog for the Edinburgh Schola!

Our hope is to render praise unto God through the singing of Gregorian chant, to preserve the ancient music of the Church in this way, and to facilitate and promote the Chant throughout the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh

Mgr Regan has kindly allowed us to use St Mary’s Cathedral in the east end of Edinburgh as the base for our weekly practices and monthly Vespers.

The Schola meets most weeks on Thursday evenings for rehearsal or to chant Vespers.

In order to promote chant, we will also have around half a dozen Masses with Gregorian chant each year. These will be spread among the deaneries and will begin in Autumn 2009.

This website aims to provide information for both current and prospective members and all who are interested in our work.

Recent Vespers

We are happy to report that our recent Vespers for the Feasts of St Joseph and the Ascension have been most successful.

Our thanks must go to our officiants Fr Neil Ferguson OP (St Joseph and Ascension) and Fr John Emerson FSSP (St Joseph the Worker) and to everyone who has served and assisted at Vespers.

We are most grateful to Eoghain Murphy for sending us photographs of Vespers and Benediction for the Feast of St Joseph the Worker.

The Schola singing the psalms

The incense is placed in the thurible

Fr Emerson approaches the altar to give Benediction.

The Schola is looking forward to its next liturgy which will be First Vespers for the Feast of the Sacred Heart on 18th June at 6:45pm. We plan to have a full compliment of six coped assistants to compliment the chant, as is fitting for such a great feast.

Joining the Schola

Anyone can join the schola as long as they are keen to sing! There is no need to be able to read Gregorian chant notation. We will teach you how to read the the notation, how to develop fluency in Latin pronunciation, etc. Plainsong is very easy to sing and given patience and experience anyone can sing even the more complex pieces.

Members will need to commit to a rehearsal each Thursday evening lasting for two hours and around six Saturdays a year for the deanery Masses.

Membership of the schola is also restricted to men. Gregorian chant has always been sung by single sex choirs since it was developed by monks and nuns. We don’t have the resources to run a ladies' schola, but we are committed to encouraging both men and women to sing chant in our work to promote it throughout the Archdiocese. We hope that women will be able to support us by joining us for our liturgies throughout the year.

If you are interested in joining please contact us using the details to the right - and if you have any questions about joining please do not hesitate to drop us a line.

Supporting the Schola

Even if you are not able to sing in the schola for we would very much appreciate your support. Please get in touch with us if you feel you can offer us anything useful – perhaps you have some old chant books which we could put to better use, for example?

If you would like to join our mailing list please send us an email at the address on the right with “Mailing List” as the subject. We will send you updates about our latest events and other information from time to time.

Thursday Evening

Owing to various other commitments in the Cathedral diary, Thursday has been chosen as the evening for our weekly rehearsal and Vespers.

Therefore, the first rehearsal will take place on Thursday 5th February. Please drop us an email or leave a voicemessage if you intend to join us.

We will gathering each week in the Cathedral porch between 18:00 and 18:15 before walking over to the house and will be finished by 20:15. If you cannot attend the first rehearsal or do not hear about it in time, please also get in touch with us. We hope you will be able to join us for our second rehearsal on the 12th.

Our first Vespers will probably take place on 19th or 26th February, depending on our progress - we will confirm this by 13th February.

NEW DATE for First Vespers

Due to diary commitments, our first public Vespers will now take place on 19th March 2009 at 6.45pm, which will be Solemn Vespers for the Feast of St Joseph.

We look forward to seeing you at the Cathedral.