Our brave piper, Callum, sheltering from the rain

(A poem by Mary Hanrahan)

Despite the rather dreich day, a congregation gathered at St Aloysius on 10 March to join Glasgow Churches Together (GCT) and the Jesuit community to celebrate the memory of St John Ogilvie and with him, those other men and women, known and unknown, who have witnessed to their Christian faith throughout the centuries right up to our own times.

Piper Calum encouraged people into the service as he played outside, while inside, harpist Dr Noel Donnelly, the St Mungo Singers and the choir of the Ukrainian Parish of the Presentation of Our Lord set a prayerful ambience for the congregation.  The church representatives and guests at this ecumenical service included Archbishop Nolan, Rev Professor Roger Sturrock, Moderator of Glasgow Presbytery of the Church of Scotland, Rev Roy Henderson of the Ecumenical Relations and Interfaith Committee of Glasgow Presbytery, Captain Les Heal of the Salvation Army, Fr. Andriy Chernenko of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of Lodon and Fr Augustin of the Orthodox Parish of the Archangel Gabriel.

After the church representatives had processed in to the sanctuary, Fr Gerard Mitchell SJ welcomed everyone to the celebration and then introduced a “Lesson in Harmony” which turned out to be a short drama, both funny and thought provoking, which saw “John Ogilvie” and “John Knox” meeting in heaven and finding out how much they had in common before they found out who the other was, courtesy of an angelic mediator.   The service proper was then begun by Archbishop Nolan inviting people to pray, before cantor Gerry Healy led the singing of the Litany of Saints which included the names of so many Scottish saints.

Fr Mitchell began his reflection by inviting people to look at the lovely icon in the shrine of St John Ogilvie which show St John with people who were very dear to him and who had been deeply touched by him.  It is an image of ministry and pastoral care, with love at its heart for the Lord and for his people, and this call to love has remained throughout the ages.  We are, he said, made for glory despite the fact that we are weak and frail, and the Lord’s call goes out to us all.  Today we pray for the many places in the world where Christians are suffering for their faith, even as they did in the past.

The lovely shrine of St John Ogilvie

Dr Donnelly provided a brief harp meditation as the congregation reflected on Fr Mitchell’s words,  The prayers of Intercession which followed openly acknowledged the courage of those, both Catholic and Protestant, who were prepared to witness to their beliefs to the point of giving their lives, expressed thanks that the days of persecution in our country are now over and asked the grace of understanding the dignity of difference while learning how to show our world unity of purpose within our diversity to build the Kingdom of God.  The final prayer was for those who even now in parts of our world face persecution and even death for leading a Christian life.  Appropriately the Intercessions ended with the saying of the Lord’s Prayer in the ELLC translation.

The service ended with some choral music from the St Mungo Singers (Jesus! Rex Admirabilis – Palestrina) and from the Ukrainian choir whose à capella singing echoed beautifully in the church.  The church representatives, led by Archbishop Nolan pronounced the blessing, before the final hymn, in honour of St John Ogilvie was sung by all present.

Traditional hospitality was then offered in the Ogilvie Centre where the congregation had the opportunity to socialise before heading off into the night.

Ps 76: ‘I cry aloud to God, cry aloud to God that he may hear me.