Scottish Catholic Observer

The fact that the feast of Scotland’s patron saint is a public holiday for schools in Renfrewshire was no deterrent for staff and pupils of St Andrew’s Academy, Paisley, in celebrating the day.

The community simply moved their celebrations forward a few days. The school’s 1260 pupils and 100 staff loaded on to 14 buses to make the trip to Paisley’s St Mirin’s Cathedral for the annual St Andrew’s Day Mass.

The pupils were delighted to get involved in the preparation of music and a special Liturgy for the Mass—concelebrated by Bishop Philip Tartaglia and several priests from Paisley Diocese.

Significance

Tony Quinn, St Andrew’s headteacher, spoke of the special significance the feast day of Scotland’s patron saint has within the school.

“The fact that St Andrew’s Day was a holiday for the school was not going to upset our plans to celebrate the feast of St Andrew who, as our school patron saint, is a very special inspiration to our pupils and staff,” Mr Quinn said.

“The bishop kindly re-arranged his diary and we were able to have our annual celebration, which is one of the highlights of the year for our school community.”

Following Mass the pupils enjoyed a Scottish-themed afternoon, with face painting and the wearing of Scottish and tartan apparel, with all proceeds going to help fund 24 pupils and five staff traveling to the Paisley school’s partner school in Kigumba, Uganda next year.

When there they will help build a dormitory and administration block for The Blessed Comboni School.

The opportunity to raise some extra funds for the project further pleased Mr Quinn. “That we also raised money for our big Uganda project is an added bonus,” he said.

“The parents got involved in the celebrations by organising a family ceilidh in St Mirin’s Cathedral hall which was a roaring success.”

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