Foreword:
His Grace, Archbishop O'Brien
Archbishop's House
42 Greenhill Gardens
Edinburgh
EH104BJ
Edinburgh
EH104BJ
5th February 2003
Dear Father John and parishioners of Our Lady and St. Andrew's, Galashiels,
My very sincere congratulations to you all, as you celebrate the 150th anniversary of the establishment of your parish here in Galashiels.
In preparing for your celebration, I read a letter issued by Bishop James Gillis, the Vicar Apostolic of the Eastern District of Scotland, given from Edinburgh on the 27th October 1853. In this letter, the Vicar Apostolic appeals for funds and writes: "In the midst of the daily increasing wants of this extensive and, in every way, most destitute Vicariate, it is no small comfort to us to reflect that, even within the limits of the poorest congregations, we have at least a zealous clergy and a willing people'to fall back upon for assistance in our hour of need." But while speaking of the material poverty of his priests and people, the Bishop continues in the same letter to state: "Through the munificence of private individuals, whose generous example we can never sufficiently praise, three new churches have risen amongst us -
At this time, we celebrate those simple beginnings and we thank God for the faith which has been handed on to us, that faith nurtured over the past 150 years by a similarly dedicated clergy and zealous laity.
In those early years, our diocesan priests were helped by the Fathers, who were Oblates of Mary Immaculate, as well as Jesuit Fathers and Brothers. Similarly, over those years, as in centuries before when monks led lives of prayer and penance in the surrounding abbeys, so too there was a flourishing of religious life with the colleges of the Missionaries of the White Fathers, the religious houses of the Brothers of Charity and of the Poor Servants of the Mother of God, and the Archdiocesan Seminary of St. Andrew's College at Drygrange, Melrose.
Various changes have taken place over the past 150 years, but this church and the solid faith of priests and people still continue here in the Borders, with Galashiels being a centre of prayer, devotion and practical pastoral apostolate.
Pope John Paul II, on inaugurating the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, called to the peoples of the world to remember and to celebrate their own jubilees, great and small. In the history of the Archdiocese of St. Andrew's and Edinburgh, this celebration here at Galashiels is a further 'great' jubilee. We think of the greatness of the past and the magnificence of the buildings bequeathed to us. We think of the heritage received by us and the challenges facing us. At the launch of this new Millennium, as we celebrate this anniversary of the Galashiels Parish, Mission and Church, so once more the priests and people of this area prepare to 'to launch out into the deep'. Aware of a greater material wealth, we value that spiritual wealth, as did our predecessors of old. Conscious of the invaluable apostolate of priests, we are all ever more aware of that other invaluable apostolate, that of the lay faithful. Bishop Gillis, in the words which I have quoted above, spoke of his comfort that he "had at least a zealous clergy and a willing people." I too have those same great gifts from Almighty God - a zealous clergy and a willing people. 1 glory in those gifts and I rely on you all, as we face the future together.
It is my wish, as successor of the late Bishop Gillis, Vicar Apostolic, on the occasion of the foundation of this parish and church, and successor to those great Bishops appointed in this Archdiocese since the Restoration of the Hierarchy, that we too be a people of faith, firm in our love of our Holy Father and the traditions of our Church and ever more ready to go forward ' together in hope', living our own faith to those around us.
With my blessing on you all.
Yours sincerely in Christ
Yours sincerely in Christ
* Keith Patrick
Archbishop of St. Andrew's and Edinburgh
