Visiting
St Andrew's Cathedral is normally open
8.00am to 6.00pm.
Visitors are welcome all day. Movement within the building is restricted when services are taking place.
Groups should enquire beforehand by contacting the Cathedral Office. Volunteer guides can be arranged if required.
Please note the information below if a priest is coming with a group for Mass.
Entry is free but donations left in the votive candle boxes or using the contactless payment. system in the porch are always appreciated.
See 'Transport & Contact' for our contact details and information about transport and parking.
VISITING PRIESTS:
If you wish to concelebrate Mass here, or wish to celebrate Mass here with a group, you must inform us in advance (at least one week before) and provide us, by e-mail, with the following information - full name, date of birth, place of current residence, diocese or religious order to which you belong. You should also provide us with a copy of your Celebret/letter of Good Standing and information about Safeguarding training you have undertaken. This information will be kept on file for our annual Safeguarding Audit (required by the Bishops of Scotland).
8.00am to 6.00pm.
Visitors are welcome all day. Movement within the building is restricted when services are taking place.
Groups should enquire beforehand by contacting the Cathedral Office. Volunteer guides can be arranged if required.
Please note the information below if a priest is coming with a group for Mass.
Entry is free but donations left in the votive candle boxes or using the contactless payment. system in the porch are always appreciated.
See 'Transport & Contact' for our contact details and information about transport and parking.
VISITING PRIESTS:
If you wish to concelebrate Mass here, or wish to celebrate Mass here with a group, you must inform us in advance (at least one week before) and provide us, by e-mail, with the following information - full name, date of birth, place of current residence, diocese or religious order to which you belong. You should also provide us with a copy of your Celebret/letter of Good Standing and information about Safeguarding training you have undertaken. This information will be kept on file for our annual Safeguarding Audit (required by the Bishops of Scotland).
A brief look at St Andrew's Cathedral (1816)
A colour guide book is available from the Cathedral shop, for the special price of only £2.
A colour guide book is available from the Cathedral shop, for the special price of only £2.
In the Porch
Mosaic. Using local stones from the land of Jesus, Bethlehem artists have
represented the Archdiocesan Coat of Arms encircled by the privileged title given
to Glasgow in the 12th century by Pope Alexander III, "special daughter of the
Roman Church".
St Andrew and St Mungo (Brendan Berry 2010).
The artist depicts Scotland’s Patron Saint smiling as he gladly accepts his
martyrdom on the cross. In the background, St Rule is handing over a casket with
St Andrew’s relics to a monk waiting on the shore below the cliffs at St Andrews.
Glasgow’s Patron, Saint Mungo (or Kentigern) is portrayed standing on a wooded
hillside above the Clyde valley, facing East towards the rising sun. The saint is
credited with working several miracles, symbols of which – the bell, tree, fish, ring
and bird - are depicted here.
The Annunciation, St Columba (or Columbkille) and St Brigid of Kildare (late
19th century). These panels were formerly part of the Lady Chapel.
Interior
Baptismal Font Designed and sculpted by Tim Pomeroy, 2011. Carved from
Carrara marble, the font is where new believers are initiated into the Church
through baptism; it also provides flowing holy water for the faithful who, on
entering God’s house, are reminded of their own baptism and their on-going call to
holiness.
The frieze that decorates the font depicts John the Baptist baptising. Jesus, the
only figure standing alone, is shown as one of the people who went down to the
Jordan to be baptised by John. The inscription on the south face points to the
deeper significance of Christian baptism, while the north face has the fuller form of
Glasgow’s motto.
The artist has carved some 166 characters, many of which are portrayed as
searching for something. One can imagine people coming to be baptised by John
and later meeting Jesus and being taken into his own ministry. Other figures in the
frieze reappear in the teachings and inspirational stories of Jesus.
Altar and Ambo (or Lectern) Designed by Archbishop Mario Conti and sculpted
by Neil Reid. The table of the Eucharist carries words attributed to St Andrew at
his martyrdom: Salva me Bona Crux (Save me, O Good Cross); the table of the
Word is inscribed with the Archdiocesan motto, ‘Floreat Praeconio Verbi’, may it
(Glasgow) flourish by the proclamation of the Word.
Stained Glass Windows (1859) The apse windows show, in the centre, the Cross
in traditional form, surmounted by angels holding relics of the Passion. This
window is a memorial to Andrew Scott, founder of the church and later Vicar
Apostolic of the Western District of Scotland. The upper lights display, on the left,
St. Patrick and St. Brigid flanked by St Joseph and St. Elizabeth of Hungary, and
on the right, St. Andrew and St. Margaret flanked by St. Agnes and St. David I,
King of Scots. Other unnamed Scottish saints are depicted in these windows.
The lower lights, opened up and glazed in 1955, depict the coat of arms of the first
eight Archbishops of Glasgow. The series is continued on the glass doors at the
entrance, which also show the arms of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
Statues of Saint Andrew (left) and St Patrick (right) date from the 1950s, and
replace similar statues put in place when the sanctuary was reordered by Pugin &
Pugin in the 1890s.
Ceiling bosses These generally show various flora and fauna, but one over the
organ loft shows a piper playing. Scarcely noticed till now, these features have
been highlighted in colour and gold leaf (to a design by Netta Ewing).
Stained Glass Windows (aisle). The restoration work has enabled us to identify
once again the Twelve Apostles in the quatrefoils in the aisle windows, with St.
Mathias taking the place of Judas Iscariot.
Left Aisle: the Blessed Sacrament Chapel
Saint John Ogilvie Peter Howson 2010
This canvas depicts St John Ogilvie, illuminated by a column of light and radiating
peace to the onlooker, facing death at Glasgow Cross in 1615. The artist originally
envisaged a work with a crowd scene of several hundred people, before deciding
it was too complicated and preferring the simplicity of the single figure.
John Ogilvie was a Jesuit priest whose ministry brought him to Glasgow, where he
preached in secret to the few remaining adherents of the outlawed Catholic faith
and celebrated Mass clandestinely in private homes before being betrayed,
arrested, tortured and hanged. This painting forms a backdrop to the place of
reservation of the Blessed Sacrament, and Scotland’s martyr invites those who
are gathered in prayer here to be faithful to the truth.
Right Aisle: The Blessed Virgin and Child
The traditional statue of Our Lady from the late 19th century surmounts the new
sacristy doors and is attended by representations of angels (Jack Sloan 2011).
Sacristy Doors Jack Sloan 2012
The processional doors at the sacristy entrance are decorated with images of
St Ninian, St Bridget, St Andrew, St Mungo, St Margaret and St Columba.
The mosaic on the floor, made by the same craftsmen as the porch mosaic,
depicts the coat of arms of Archbishop Conti, with his motto ‘To serve with a
sincere heart.’
Exterior
Cloister Garden
Read the panels on the south and east walls.
Mosaic. Using local stones from the land of Jesus, Bethlehem artists have
represented the Archdiocesan Coat of Arms encircled by the privileged title given
to Glasgow in the 12th century by Pope Alexander III, "special daughter of the
Roman Church".
St Andrew and St Mungo (Brendan Berry 2010).
The artist depicts Scotland’s Patron Saint smiling as he gladly accepts his
martyrdom on the cross. In the background, St Rule is handing over a casket with
St Andrew’s relics to a monk waiting on the shore below the cliffs at St Andrews.
Glasgow’s Patron, Saint Mungo (or Kentigern) is portrayed standing on a wooded
hillside above the Clyde valley, facing East towards the rising sun. The saint is
credited with working several miracles, symbols of which – the bell, tree, fish, ring
and bird - are depicted here.
The Annunciation, St Columba (or Columbkille) and St Brigid of Kildare (late
19th century). These panels were formerly part of the Lady Chapel.
Interior
Baptismal Font Designed and sculpted by Tim Pomeroy, 2011. Carved from
Carrara marble, the font is where new believers are initiated into the Church
through baptism; it also provides flowing holy water for the faithful who, on
entering God’s house, are reminded of their own baptism and their on-going call to
holiness.
The frieze that decorates the font depicts John the Baptist baptising. Jesus, the
only figure standing alone, is shown as one of the people who went down to the
Jordan to be baptised by John. The inscription on the south face points to the
deeper significance of Christian baptism, while the north face has the fuller form of
Glasgow’s motto.
The artist has carved some 166 characters, many of which are portrayed as
searching for something. One can imagine people coming to be baptised by John
and later meeting Jesus and being taken into his own ministry. Other figures in the
frieze reappear in the teachings and inspirational stories of Jesus.
Altar and Ambo (or Lectern) Designed by Archbishop Mario Conti and sculpted
by Neil Reid. The table of the Eucharist carries words attributed to St Andrew at
his martyrdom: Salva me Bona Crux (Save me, O Good Cross); the table of the
Word is inscribed with the Archdiocesan motto, ‘Floreat Praeconio Verbi’, may it
(Glasgow) flourish by the proclamation of the Word.
Stained Glass Windows (1859) The apse windows show, in the centre, the Cross
in traditional form, surmounted by angels holding relics of the Passion. This
window is a memorial to Andrew Scott, founder of the church and later Vicar
Apostolic of the Western District of Scotland. The upper lights display, on the left,
St. Patrick and St. Brigid flanked by St Joseph and St. Elizabeth of Hungary, and
on the right, St. Andrew and St. Margaret flanked by St. Agnes and St. David I,
King of Scots. Other unnamed Scottish saints are depicted in these windows.
The lower lights, opened up and glazed in 1955, depict the coat of arms of the first
eight Archbishops of Glasgow. The series is continued on the glass doors at the
entrance, which also show the arms of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
Statues of Saint Andrew (left) and St Patrick (right) date from the 1950s, and
replace similar statues put in place when the sanctuary was reordered by Pugin &
Pugin in the 1890s.
Ceiling bosses These generally show various flora and fauna, but one over the
organ loft shows a piper playing. Scarcely noticed till now, these features have
been highlighted in colour and gold leaf (to a design by Netta Ewing).
Stained Glass Windows (aisle). The restoration work has enabled us to identify
once again the Twelve Apostles in the quatrefoils in the aisle windows, with St.
Mathias taking the place of Judas Iscariot.
Left Aisle: the Blessed Sacrament Chapel
Saint John Ogilvie Peter Howson 2010
This canvas depicts St John Ogilvie, illuminated by a column of light and radiating
peace to the onlooker, facing death at Glasgow Cross in 1615. The artist originally
envisaged a work with a crowd scene of several hundred people, before deciding
it was too complicated and preferring the simplicity of the single figure.
John Ogilvie was a Jesuit priest whose ministry brought him to Glasgow, where he
preached in secret to the few remaining adherents of the outlawed Catholic faith
and celebrated Mass clandestinely in private homes before being betrayed,
arrested, tortured and hanged. This painting forms a backdrop to the place of
reservation of the Blessed Sacrament, and Scotland’s martyr invites those who
are gathered in prayer here to be faithful to the truth.
Right Aisle: The Blessed Virgin and Child
The traditional statue of Our Lady from the late 19th century surmounts the new
sacristy doors and is attended by representations of angels (Jack Sloan 2011).
Sacristy Doors Jack Sloan 2012
The processional doors at the sacristy entrance are decorated with images of
St Ninian, St Bridget, St Andrew, St Mungo, St Margaret and St Columba.
The mosaic on the floor, made by the same craftsmen as the porch mosaic,
depicts the coat of arms of Archbishop Conti, with his motto ‘To serve with a
sincere heart.’
Exterior
Cloister Garden
Read the panels on the south and east walls.
