This publication reserves a small space for churches located farther afield. Glasgow’s St. Aloysius, a parish served by Jesuits, certainly fits the bill. I came to this church perched on a hill in a roundabout way while vacationing in Scotland’s largest city. It’s all thanks to Glasgow’s former Lord Provost, Liz Cameron: a parishioner, a volunteer tour guide at the historic Garnethill Synagogue around the corner from the church, and a Labour Party veteran who led the city’s municipal government from 2003 to 2007. I met her at the synagogue, where I had registered to take a two-hour tour. There were just five of us visiting and the opportunities for interactions with Liz — ever enthusiastic, funny and frank — were plentiful. I learned that she’s a practicing Roman Catholic with a great affinity for the Jewish community and culture. And her Jesuit parish has been a strong supporter of interfaith dialogue, too.
As St. Aloysius is merely a few steps away from the synagogue, I peeked inside on that weekday afternoon. One man prayed in the pews of this grand church built in 1910. Its architecture was inspired by the Italian Renaissance, as well as Byzantine, and Baroque styles. The vibrant colours of its painted dome and ceiling shined as the gentle afternoon sunlight streamed in through the stained glass. The rich marble and intricate painting make this a uniquely lavish church in Scotland and more in keeping with what one might expect to see on the continent.
I committed to attending the 12:00 PM Mass at St. Aloysius on the upcoming Sunday. The Parish celebrates Mass on Sundays at 10:00 AM, Noon and at 9:00 PM, but it’s the mid-day liturgy that is sung. And so, on August 9, I made the short but steep hike from my hotel in Central Glasgow up to the Garnethill neighbourhood. The church’s imposing red sandstone exterior is quintessentially Glasgow. Many of the city’s buildings from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were built with red sandstone. It’s best to catch a glimpse of them when the sun shines. I had that chance a few days earlier, but by Sunday the weather had reverted to a light drizzle.
While the current church was completed and opened in 1910, the Jesuits had already served Garnethill for decades. In 1868, Fr. William Kay, SJ established the first purpose-built Catholic church in the neighbourhood, constructed of iron and glass. Locals thought it resembled a railway station. The church served the community until the completion of the new St. Aloysius at 25 Rose Street.
The new church’s cornerstone was blessed on October 4, 1908 and it took 18-months to construct and open Glasgow’s newest place of worship. The Belgian architect Charles Jean Ménart took inspiration from the Cathedral of Namur, in his home country. St. Aloysius’ architecture, particularly the ornate dome, is striking and unique among churches in Glasgow. The church underwent a major restoration project in 2015, which involved repainting the interior, expanding the organ loft and the installation of the Van den Heuvel organ that once belonged to the Royal Academy of Music in London.
On August 9, I joined around 80 parishioners for the sung Mass. The parish choir is on break during the summer months, but a cantor and organist led the music. Several parts of this Novus Ordo liturgy were in Latin, including the Gloria, the Creed, the Our Father, the Agnus Dei and the Communion Antiphon. The words were provided in a printed order of service, a supplement to the Sunday Bulletin. This document also included the lyrics to the hymns. The Latin words to the Creed were available on laminated sheets. The hymn “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind” served as the Processional with words that were poetic and lyrical:
Drop thy still dews of quietness,
till all our strivings cease;
take from our souls the stain and stress,
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of thy peace.Breathe through the heats of our desire
thy coolness and thy balm;
let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
speak through the earthquake, wind and fire,
O still small voice of calm!
Other hymns at this Mass included “Sweet Sacrament Divine” and “Salve Regina.”
On this Sunday, the Parish welcomed its new Pastor, Fr. Andrew Cameron-Mowat SJ, a renowned liturgist and academic. Fr. Andrew shared that he has fond memories of St. Aloysius, as he had been an altar server here for many years, beginning in 1966. He expressed particular appreciation for the Parish’s long-standing reputation of having high-quality liturgy.
In his homily, Fr. Andrew reflected on the first reading, from 1 Kings 19, on how the power of God manifests itself. He shared:
God expressed His presence not in fire, not in earthquake, but in a whisper, in the stillness. In the new translation, it said, “a gentle breeze.” The still, small voice of God. We experience that in our prayer when God does not shout at us, God does not seek to overwhelm us or humiliate us, shame us. God comes to our heart in that still, small voice when we open our hearts in quiet and in peace, in prayer and in reflection.
Fr. Andrew spoke of how a growing number of people are deciding to find reprieve from the ever-present cellphones, the social media feeds and the constant communication and loudness of our contemporary culture. People seek some quiet and peace in their lives. “And if they are seeking God, God comes to them in silence, in the gentle breeze,” he added. He quoted from the poetry of Denise Levertov, a convert to Christianity, notably from her work “Avowal”:
As swimmers dare to lie face to the sky
and water bears them,
as birds rest on the air and the air sustains them,
so are we invited to attain free fall
and float into the Creator Spirit’s deep embrace,
knowing no effort earns that endless surrounding grace.
In exploring the Gospel reading, Matthew 14, where Jesus rescues Peter from the stormy waters, Fr. Andrew spoke of how he saves the man who is to become the leader of the disciples. “Jesus has continued to reach out his hand to rescue those who have succeeded Peter as Pope. When a new Pope is elected and they come out onto the balcony of St. Peter’s, they feel an incredible rush of thousands and millions of people supporting them. You can see the emotion in their face of that tremendous support that Christ is giving to them in the body of Christ, which is the millions of Catholics around the world at that moment praying to support the new leader,” Fr. Andrew said.
Perusing the Sunday Bulletin, I could see that the Jesuits have an active young adult ministry in the Parish. This coming academic year, young adults are invited to join a study group that will explore in depth the liturgical reforms of Vatican II. And the Parish is active in reflecting on the meaning of the Season of Creation and this year’s theme, “Living Waters.” The Parish is set to hold a “Sustainability Picnic” in a local park on September 6 after the Noon Mass.
St. Aloysius is situated just on the edge of a bustling and touristy pedestrian area in Central Glasgow. It’s a welcome and a beautiful corner of stillness and peace.
Christopher Adam
Born in Montreal, Christopher Adam has called Ottawa home for the past twenty years. He received his MA from Carleton University, with a thesis focusing on twentieth century European church history, and a PhD in History from the University of Ottawa. Over the years, he has published widely and works in the faith-based charitable sector in Ottawa.