We have come home!

25th April 2011

Holy Saturday in St Mary's Cathedral, Aberdeen

Members of the Scottish Group of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham were received into Holy Mother Church in St Mary's Cathedral, Aberdeen, during the Vigil on Holy Saturday ... and there was a great feeling of having 'come home', something we all experienced this Easter. Those received in Aberdeen are seen below with Bishop Peter after the service.

We arrived in Aberdeen in good time on Holy Saturday and made our way to the Cathedral where we were very warmly welcomed by Joyce Webster, the Bishop's PA, and taken to meet Bishop Peter. The six of us, along with our sponsors, were greeted by Bishop Peter who asked each person to introduce themselves and to tell him a little more about ourselves. We were also joined by two others, one to be Baptised and both to be received and confirmed. Everyone was most impressed by Bishop Peter's kindness and by the welcome he gave us.

The Cathedral Administrator, Fr Chris Brannan, then joined us and welcomed us all on behalf of the Cathedral, as did the Master of Ceremonies who put everyone at their ease about what would happen. We were all then taken into the Cathedral to prepare ourselves for what lay ahead.

The atmosphere was wonderful … something everyone felt and appreciated. We really felt we were being upheld by the prayers and good wishes of so many people up and down the country. The Easter Vigil was wonderful, even though the weather was not good enough for the Paschal Fire to be lit outside the Cathedral. While everyone else remained in their places, those in the Ordinariate Group and the two others who were being received were invited to join the procession for the lighting of the New Fire.

As the Liturgy continued we were all caught up in the atmosphere of the readings and the unfolding of the story of our redemption made all the more special by the voices of the readers and the wonderful music. After the Gospel, Bishop Peter spoke in his homily about new life and Easter joy linking it with the Baptism which was about to take place. He also explained that others to be received were part of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, explaining how the Holy Father had made what Bishop Peter referred to as a 'fast track' into full Communion for former Anglicans by way of Anglicanorum Coetibus.

We then returned to the font for the blessing of water, the baptism and the renewal of Baptismal vows, before joining the procession back to the altar where we were received and confirmed. It was a very special moment for all of us. The Mass continued and soon we reached the moment we had all been preparing for during the Season of Lent. As we each received our first Holy Communion in the Catholic Church, we all experienced a feeling of 'coming home'. The first part of our new journey of faith was now over and we were now one with millions of Catholics around the world under the protection of the successor of St Peter. It was a wonderful feeling.

We were all overwhelmed by the warm welcome we received from Bishop Peter and from all in the Cathedral, not to mention the support and encouragement that you have shown to us. We are all most grateful.

As well as the six of us in Aberdeen, Michael Thrusfield was received by Cardinal O'Brien in St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh, and four others will be received in Inverness in due course. Five others who began the Ordinariate journey with us, but decided to be received through the parishes where they had made their homes, where received in Dunkeld and Inverness. Two others, who are attending Mass at St Ninian's, Inverness, have decided to take more time in preparation before being received.