As we draw closer to the celebrations of our Cathedrals Golden Jubilee the pace of activity around the Cathedral has stepped up a gear.
The construction works have all been given a deadline to finish off certain elements before the third weekend in May. The final arrangements are being put in place for the various events that will be taking place with last minute meetings of key people involved. Over the next few weeks there will be a lot more activity in the building with rehearsals, sound testing and filming. Please make sure that you have one of our Golden Jubilee events guide books so that you are aware of all that is happening and can share in many of the events with us.
This Wednesday we have the ‘One Show’ with us all day filming a piece on the Cathedral to be broadcast on the show the following week. The presenter is Alexei Sayle and one of the items they want to focus on, as well as the Jubilee, is the work taking place in the Cathedral Lantern. I will be very surprised if he manages to climb up the roof to the lantern as it is quite a challenging climb on the outside of the roof and you also have to squeeze through a small hatch to get onto the roof – so I guess they will send the cameraman up top and do the interviews down below. Mind you he did star in ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’. I have never met Alexei before but I did hear that he grew up in the Anfield area of the city so we may have similar childhood memories –though we would have attended different primary schools. I hope he doesn’t resort to the old cliché referring to the building as ‘Paddy’s Wigwam’!
Monday is a Bank Holiday this week and there will just be the one Mass that day at 10.00am in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. There is an afternoon Organ Recital at 3.00pm given by Martin Baker – the Music Director of Westminster Cathedral. Martin will also be here later in the year (15th November) with the choir from Westminster Cathedral for a joint Cathedral Choirs performance of Mozart’s Requiem – which will be the first time that both these great Catholic Cathedral Choirs have performed together.
On Sunday 14the May there will be celebrations of First Holy Communion at 11.00am Mass at both the Cathedral and at St Vincent’s Church. Please remember in your prayer the children from both our primary Schools (St Nicholas and St Vincent) and also some of the young children in the Cathedral Choir in the final period leading to the reception of the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
Canon Anthony O’Brien, Cathedral Dean
