It would seem that there are no Vigil Masses for Holy Days of Obligation in Edinburgh.* This is surprising as there are several Vigil Masses for Sundays in Edinburgh, and whereas there are some people who simply have to work on Sundays, there are even more who work on Thursdays. Sunday: not usually a work day. Thursday: usually a work day.
"The point is that one is supposed to go to Mass on a Holy Day of Obligation," said my helpful informant, perhaps a little too strictly.
"Sundays are Holy Days of Obligation, and yet there are vigils for them," I pointed out. There's even a vigil for Christmas, come to think of it.
It's been a while since I had a good theological argument. However, I let it go with a kindly "Manpower issues, I imagine." (At the current rate of attrition, Edinburgh-St. Andrews will have a grand total of 30 full-time priests in 2035. Currently the diocese has about 129, including retirees.)
Anyway, there are a number of morning and evening Masses in Edinburgh to cover the Feast of the Ascension (tomorrow) which in Scotland has not been shifted to Sunday. Be aware that various church and Daily Mass websites are completely out of date, so your best bet is to phone the church-of-your-choice ahead of time if you can't get to your usual parish/Mass centre.
Further complicating matters for the faithful this year are the Scottish elections, which are also tomorrow. Sigh. Vigil Masses before a work day which also involves elections would have been very pastoral but, well ... manpower issues.
*UPDATE (7:13 PM): Source lacking information. The Archbishop himself is saying a Vigil Mass from 7 PM at St. Kentigern's in Barton. Sigh.
Oh dear. I hope you find somewhere to go. In my city, the one and only Vigil Mass was at 5.30 pm, because they somehow thought that only because tomorrow is a holiday, nobody has to work today…?
ReplyDeleteA very happy feast of the Ascension to you, dear former Auntie!
I'm still an Auntie! And thank you, B.A. managed to take a couple of hours off work so he could get to Mass with me at 10 AM.
ReplyDeleteHi Dorothy on your next new blog;) You change them recently quite often;) But the most important is tahat you are still writing and you are still with us. Thank you for each post - for each postcard from Old Europe. God bless you!
ReplyDeleteAlice from Poland
Cześć Alicjo! Jak leci?
ReplyDeleteRóżnie leci. Raz lepiej raz gorzej. Raz jest więcej radości i pokoju w sercu, innym razem dopadają kryzysy. Jak to w życiu. Ważne, by się nie poddawać i wciąż ręce wyciągać do tego, od którego przychodzi pomoc. On nie zawodzi. J 14,27.
DeleteDorothy kiedy wybierasz się do Polski? Z przyjemnością i radością wielka napiłabym się z Tobą kawy;)
Załączam uściski.