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CATHEDRAL OPENING HOURS 26 DECEMBER-9 JANUARY On weekdays from 26 December to 6 January the Cathedral will ONLY be open for 1.05 Eucharists. This includes Saturday 31 December. On Sunday 1 January there will be Cathedral Eucharist (no choir) at 10.30am and Evening Prayer at 3.30pm. On Saturday 7 January the only service will be the usual 7.30am Morning Prayer & Eucharist. On Sunday 8 January the Chapter House Singers will sing at 10.30am Cathedral Eucharist and 3.30pm Choral Evensong. On Monday 9 January there will be the usual 7.30am Morning Prayer & Eucharist, 1.05 Eucharist and 5.30pm Evening Prayer. The Cathedral Choir returns on Tuesday 10 January. The Cathedral Office will be closed from lunchtime on 23 December until 9am on 9 January.

Andrew

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At 4pm on Christmas Eve the Cathedral holds its Crib Service for families with young children. Come along to this short telling of the Christmas story, sing some carols - then enjoy some mince pies and chocolate biscuits!

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The Cathedral's two Festivals of Nine Lessons and Carols will be held at 7.30pm on Thursday 22nd and Saturday 24th December. Come and hear the Cathedral Choir (directed by Organist and Master of the Music Duncan Ferguson) sing, join in some congregational carols and enjoy music performed by our Assistant Organist Donald Hunt, our Organ Scholar Adam Wilson, and Carnyx Brass (directed by John Kenny). Everyone is welcome.

Rayfield Allied

Photos from St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh's post

Our tree is up! The Cathedral's Christmas has begun. See our website for details of all Christmas services - or call in and pick up a card.

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At 7.30pm on Tuesday 13th December the Cathedral will host a carol concert for Mercy Ships, an international charity operating the world's largest civilian hospital ship. The 'Africa Mercy' delivers free world-class healthcare to people living in the world's poorest countries. It is currently docked in the port of Cotonou, Benin for a ten-month field service, during which the international team of medical volunteers will perform 1,700 life-changing surgeries on-board and treat over 8,000 people at a land-based dental clinic. Everyone is invited to this special service, at which the Cathedral Choir will sing. Admission is free and there will be a collection for the charity. Mulled wine and mince pies will be served afterwards. For more information about Mercy Ships, visit https://www.mercyships.org.uk/

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At Choral Evensong today (Wednesday 7th) the Cathedral Choir will sing Heinrich Isaac's anthem 'Hierusalem surge' ('Arise, O Jerusalem!'). A popular and prolific Renaissance composer of masses, motets, songs and instrumental music, Isaac was probably born around 1450 in Flanders. During his long career he travelled to Germany, Italy, Austria and other parts of central Europe, and was a singer first for the Hapsburg Duke Sigismund in Innsbruck and later at the churches of Santa Maria del Fiore and Santissima Annunziata, both in Florence. It is likely that he also performed for the Pope in Rome. By 1497 Isaac had been appointed court composer for Emperor Maximilian I in Vienna, and although he returned to live in Florence five years later he remained on the Emperor's payroll until his death in 1517. Choral Evensong begins at 5.30pm and everyone is welcome.

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At Choral Evensong on Friday (2 December) the Cathedral Lay Clerks will sing Binchois' 'Magnificat'. Gilles Binchois was one of the three most famous composers of the early 15th century (the other two being Guillaume Dufay and John Dunstable). In 1419 he became organist at the church of Ste. Waudru in Mons; four years later he was living in Lille, and may have been a soldier in the service of either the Burgundians or the Earl of Suffolk. Around 1428 Binchois joined the Burgundian court of Philip the Good, where he remained as chaplain and singer for a quarter of a century before retiring to Soignies. Binchois wrote both sacred and secular music. His works are simple and clear in outline and were very popular with his employer, the Duke. The painting below shows Binchois (right) and Guillaume Dufay. Choral Evensong begins at 5.30pm; all are welcome.

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Today (30th November) we celebrate the life and work of Andrew, Apostle and Patron Saint of Scotland. According to the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, Andrew and his brother Peter were fishermen by trade; Jesus saw them when he was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee and called them to be his disciples, saying that he would make them 'fishers of men.' Andrew is said to have been martyred by crucifixion in the city of Patras, on a cross of the form called 'crux decussata' (X-shaped cross or saltire), now often known as a 'Saint Andrew's Cross', as he deemed himself unworthy to be crucified on the same type of cross as Jesus. Legend has it that the white saltire set against a blue background was adopted as the flag of Scotland after Óengus II's victory against the Angles, near modern-day Athelstaneford. On the morning of battle white clouds forming an X shape appeared in the sky; Óengus interpreted these as representing the 'crux decussata'. After overcoming the enemy, Óengus honoured a pre-battle pledge and duly appointed Saint Andrew as the Patron Saint of Scotland. A local superstition uses the cross of Saint Andrew as a hex sign on the fireplaces in northern England and Scotland to prevent witches from flying down the chimney and entering the house to do mischief. Everyone is is welcome at our Choral Evensong, which begins at 5.30pm; the setting will be Tallis's 'Service in the Dorian Mode' and the anthem Tallis's 'Audivi vocem de caelo.'

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Why not come and enjoy one of our choristers' two carol concerts in the beautiful Cathedral Song School this Advent? The concerts will take place at 7pm on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 December. Tickets cost £10 (including a glass of wine after the concert) and are available from the Cathedral Office on 0131 225 6293. Everyone is welcome!

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'Adam lay ybounden' is a 15th century text of unknown authorship; it relates the events of Genesis Chapter 3 - the Fall of Man following Adam's temptation by Eve ('and all was for an apple') and the subsequent redemption of man by the birth of Jesus Christ to Mary, who was to become the Queen of Heaven. There are many modern choral settings of the text. The best known may be Boris Ord's, which is traditionally performed following the First Lesson at the annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in the chapel of King's College, Cambridge, where Ord was organist from 1929 to 1957. At Choral Evensong on Monday (28th November) the Cathedral Choir will sing an arrangement of Ord's setting by organist and choir trainer Barry Rose (who is best known for conducting the choir of St Paul's Cathedral at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, and who also composed the original music for 'The Snowman'). The service begins at 5.30pm and all are welcome.