Parish Profile
St Catherine of Alexandria Parish, Gracemount, Edinburgh

St Catherine’s Parish is a community of Catholic Christians who choose to celebrate their faith with one another and with those who would like to be able to celebrate but are unable to do so for whatever reason. We aspire to support and encourage at a social and spiritual level all of our members in the challenges we face in life. We are especially committed to those who are lacking in the necessities for a life with dignity at home and throughout the world. We have a particular interest in the children of Siret Orphanage and the faith community of Darmanesti, both of which are in Romania.
St Catherine’s Faith Community is served by a Pastoral Team consisting of Sister Mary Steedman, a Sister of Mercy from the community at Lauriston in Edinburgh and Father Mike Fallon who lives in the Parish House.

Main Liturgical Events

Eucharist 11.00 am Sunday
Weekday Mass, Monday, Tuesday and Friday, normally at 9am
We have a Celebration of Forgiveness during Advent and Lent on a Sunday afternoon.
There is an opportunity for private reconciliation or Confession before the Saturday Vigil and on request.
We celebrate a Mass of Healing and Anointing on a Sunday morning, usually in September
We are committed to the unity of Christ’s Body and towards that end we are Members of South East Edinburgh Churches Acting Together (SEECAT)
In addition we share our Good Friday Liturgy with Kaimes Lockhart Memorial C of S, St Barnabus’ Episcopal Church and Liberton Kirk.

The Rites of Initiation

The Rite of Initiation of Children

.The recently revised policy of the Diocese is that children should begin the process of initiation into the Church in infancy by being baptised. At around the time they begin their third year in primary school, they should be enrolled in the parish programme of preparation for completing the process of Sacramental initiation. This entails an ongoing series of sessions on Sunday mornings in the parish Hall. During the last term of their fourth year in primary school they will celebrate the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Communion. Sister Mary coordinates this process.

The Process of Initiation

Infant Baptism is normally celebrated during Sunday Eucharist on about five or six occasions during the year.
On the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord in January
Before Lent begins;
At Easter time
Before the summer
In early autumn
Before Advent begins. There is obviously leeway given to meet the particular needs of individuals.
Baptism is not celebrated during the Seasons of Advent and Lent.
There is a Baptismal Preparation team who meet with the parents of candidates for Baptism, usually on two occasions.

New Adult Members

For some years the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), the process through which adults become members of the Church, involved weekly meetings from September until June. During the past year we have modified this process and incorporated it into an ongoing faith formation programme which is open to everyone in the cluster. As and when an enquirer indicates that they would like to learn more about the faith of the Church with a possible intention of becoming a member, they are invited to join this ongoing group called “OFF” - Ongoing Faith Formation The Candidates are given a sponsor from the parish community and together with the Pastoral Team and other members of the group they journey through the faith of the Church and the Liturgical year together. As and when they are ready they are presented fopr the Sacraments for membership in the Church. Adult Baptism is celebrated at the Easter Vigil, our Principal Feast. This is also the time when those who are already baptised become full members of the Church by being fully initiated through the Sacraments of Confirmation and Communion.

Marriage

Following the Guidelines laid down in the Diocese, at least six months notice must be given for the Sacrament of Marriage. A course of preparation for Marriage is mandatory. There are various options available. People considering being married in the Church should contact Father Mike at as early a stage as possible to find out the exact requirements.

Ministries in the Parish

Readers

There are a fair number of people who exercise the Ministry of Reader. Most of these are on the Rota for Sunday. More Readers would be welcomed to join the Rota for the Saturday Vigil. There are Parish guidelines for Reading in Church.

Eucharistic Ministry

There are over thirty people commissioned to assist in this valuable Ministry. This enables us to have Communion celebrated in its full form under both species. It also allows a considerable number of people, who are unable to come to Church, the opportunity of being linked to the Community Celebration by receiving Holy Communion afterwards in their own home or in one of the five residential care homes in the area.

Catechists

These are members of the community who are commissioned to facilitate and coordinate the learning journey for candidates for initiation, both children and adult.

Death and Bereavement Ministry

There is a group of people in the parish who have done the Diocesan training for this Ministry. They meet regularly in a Cluster bereavement Group.

St Vincent de Paul

There is a conference of the Society active in the Parish. They engage in support work that is largely hidden and is confidential. Each year they organize and host a Christmas Dinner for the senior members of the parish. The Conference meets in the Parish House on specified Sunday mornings at 9.15am The president is Jim Harkins

Parish Pastoral Council

The Parish Pastoral Council was reconstituted in XXXX 2004 after a series of workshops and meetings led by Mr John Lindsey, the Diocesan Pastoral Coordinator. The members are:
Trish Kaminski (Chair) Stephen Small (Sec) Rosemary Bayne, Joyce Flynn, Danny Friel, Suzanne Blair, Mandy Withers, Susan Emery, Anne Moore, Sister Mary, Father Mike
The Council meets on a regular basis. Also since June 2005 the Council members have become part of a wider body, the Cluster pastoral Council. Cardinal O’Brien has asked that we meet as a cluster council on a regular basis in order to monitor the effects of the alteration of Mass times which comes into effect on Sunday 4 September.

The Ladies’ Guild

There is a Ladies’ Guild which meets on a Monday evening in the Parish Hall. The contact person is …………… Tel ……………….

The Brownies

The 111th Liberton Brownie Pack meets in the Parish hall on a Thursday evening. The Leader is Catherine Homan
Tel. 0131 258 2216 or e-mail Brown Owl

The Grounds

There is a considerable expanse of grass on the parish property and a beech hedge around the perimeter of the Church. A group of parishioners undertake the maintenance of the grounds and are always pleased to welcome new volunteers. Contact person is John Coll …………….

LIMEX

Loyola University in New Orleans USA has a distance learning programme on Ministry. It is called LIMEX - which is short for Loyola Institute for Ministry Extension Programme. It offers post graduate candidates a Masters degree and for non graduate candidates there is a Certificated version. There are twelve Courses in all and each has ten sessions of three hours. It is normal for the programme to be done over four years. St Catherine’s is the first Parish in Britain to sponsor candidates for this course. A group of four parishioners along with three parishioners from St John Vianney’s and another two from other city parishes have completed three courses. Full details can be had from Sister Mary who is the Diocesan Contact person for Limex.

Integration of Life and Faith

Another resource in training for Ministry that is available is The integration of Life and Faith Course. A number of parishioners in our cluster parishes have undertaken this and it was found to be of great benefit. We would look to encouraging some parishioners to sign up for this programme.

Workshops

From time to time there are workshops provided on aspects of Ministry. Over the past few years Parishioners have had the opportunity to join in music workshops with John Bell, Stephen Dean and Monica Brown. Workshops on the Rite of Initiation of children have also been offered at Inter-parish level and with Monica Brown. A series of talks on the Liturgy were given by Father Charles Barclay a couple of years ago. Father Kenneth Owens led a series of evenings on Moral Theology and Mike Knox gave a series of Lenten reflections on the challenges of being a Catholic Christian We would hope to continue to offer opportunities for growing in knowledge of our faith. We were also most fortunate to have two parish retreats; the first in 2003 given by Denis McBride and Ellen Mc Bride and the second again by Ellen McBride in 2004. These were weekend Retreats and brought a considerable grace to our parishioners.

Care and Maintenance of Church Property

Some parishes are fortunate to have a stalwart who keeps the fabric and property in good order. We are most fortunate to have Jimmy Christie. He opens the Church, sees to the Sacristy, prepares the necessary Liturgical requirements for the Celebrations in the Church, greets people with hymn sheets and orders of service and oversees the work of the pass-keepers. He also takes care of the Parish Hall. He is an invaluable resource. There are a couple of other parishioners who deputise for him when he is unable to be around. This is an area of Ministry we would hope to develop. There are also faithful people who keep the Church clean, arrange flowers, launder altar linen and look after the Church Stall which sells cards, and religious objects.