Hidden Scottish Catholicism

Kirsten Schouwenaars-Harms reveals some of Scotland's hidden treasures in this weeks piece. Today is also the feast of St Aidan of Lindisfarne.

When you approach the tabernacle remember that He has been waiting for you for twenty centuries.

St. Josemaria Escriva

St Mary’s in Auchindoir, Aberdeenshire.

For Catholics, the Eucharist is the source and summit of their faith (CCC 1324), and therefore the Tabernacle, the place where the consecrated host is placed, is necessarily of great importance. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992) notes:

As faith in the real presence of Christ in his Eucharist deepened, the Church became conscious of the meaning of silent adoration of the Lord present under the Eucharistic species. It is for this reason that the Tabernacle should be located in an especially worthy place in the church and should be constructed in such a way that it emphasizes and manifests the truth of the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.” (CCC 1379)

As a cradle Catholic it has become second nature to me, when visiting another church, to upon entering look for the sanctuary and genuflect, assuming that is where I shall find the Lord in the Tabernacle. Imagine my surprise during my first visit to the cathedral of St Mary of the Assumption in Aberdeen to discover He had gone missing. On closer inspection, the Tabernacle obviously wasn’t missing but positioned in the side aisle. While, positioning the Tabernacle was not done to conceal the Lord, to me, it very much felt like He was hidden away. Hiding Tabernacles has not been uncommon in post-reformation Scotland. Since the reformation Protestants have objected to the doctrine of the real presence in the Eucharist, the Tabernacle was deemed unnecessary. Those that were found were destroyed in the iconoclastic destruction. But not all have gone, some are only hiding, let us rediscover some of them.

The Tabernacle is first described in the book of Exodus where it reads: “And have them make me a sanctuary, so that I may dwell among them. In accordance with all that I show you concerning the pattern of the Tabernacle and of all its furniture, so you shall make it” (Ex 25:8-9). It was thus where the Lord dwelled among His people. The prologue of St. John’s Gospel states that the divine Word “was made flesh and dwelt, literally, “pitched his tent”,  among us” (Jn 1:14). This divinely inspired Tabernacle was mobile, making it possible to build a dwelling for the Lord wherever the people of Hebrew tribes found themselves during the period of wandering. Making it redundant with the building of the first temple in Jerusalem.

Jesus’ teachings about the Eucharist (cf Mt 26:26-29, Mk 14:22-25, LK 2215-20), His passion and resurrection and the birth of Christianity gave rise to the return of the Tabernacle. As a dwelling place of the Lord, the consecrated host, being the Lord truly present in the Eucharist, Tabernacles once again became where the Lord resides, much like in Old Testament times. In the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) it was decreed that the Blessed Sacrament was to be kept in a secure receptacle and placed in a clean, conspicuous place. Furthermore, the Synods of Cologne (1281) and Munster (1279) said that the Blessed Sacrament be kept above the altar, sometimes in Tabernacles, or ornate Pyxes shaped like doves and suspended by chains.

During the 14^th century sacrament houses replacing these pyxes and earlier forms of Tabernacles, becoming the norm in northern Europe, and turned popular in Scotland in the early 1500’s. Many of these sacrament houses can still be found if you know where to look for them. Sacrament houses outside of Scotland, particularly in northern Europe, were often shaped as towers. Those in Scotland were, for the most part, plainer. Found on the north wall, in a position near the altar, they mostly took the shape of a recessed stone cupboard, with a lockable door and were surrounded by ornate carved moulded stone carvings that would have been painted or even gilded (cf Macpherson, 1891).

The roofless and ruined Deskford Church Rectangular parish church may seem inconspicuous but it does hold one of the best examples of such a hidden treasure. The sacrament house was built by Alexander Ogilvie, Laird of Deskford and Findlater, in 1551. A good indication of the importance of the stone recess is the Latin inscription that, translated, reads, “I am the living bread which came down from Heaven. If any man eat of this he shall live forever”. Above this is a line from Chapter 29 of Genesis, “Thou art my bone and my flesh”.

Another sacrament house is found at St Mary's Kirk, Auchindoir in Aberdeenshire. This beautiful, roofless kirk from the early 13th-century kirk was kept for post-reformation worship, changing from the Catholic to Protestant denomination. But rather than being destroyed, like many were, the sacrament house was covered up and thus, in a way, hidden mostly likely thanks to the efforts of the Catholic lairds of Craig (cf Dean, 2008:17). In the 19^th century the kirk was abandoned due to a new church being build in the village. However many of the building’s original features are still to be seen in their full glory, including the sacrament house with its Latin inscription that reads: “Hic Est Corpus Domini Nostri Jesu Christi Virginis Mariae” which translates as: "Here is the Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Virgin Mary".

Sacrament houses such as the one described above can be fairly easy to be found, if you know what you are looking for. After all even if a church is no longer in use as a house of God, it does not take much imagination to realise that what is seen in these places was built for religious purposes. However, putting in some effort, there are also properly hidden sacrament houses to be found. One such is that of Beldorney Castle, between Dufftown and Huntly. It features some interesting carved sandstone around the outside of the building. One of which, an ogee-headed panel above the front door, is thought to be the sacrament house. Some have suggested that it was hidden by moving it from the Wallakirk, to be incorporated into Beldorney Castle as a sign of a place where Mass could be heard (cf Dean, 2008:17) in the period of the battle of Culloden and the outlawing of the Catholic religion. Visiting a place such as this to would be easy to overlook this hidden medieval dwelling place of the Lord.

Luckily not all medieval sacrament houses are hiding. In fact, there is one in the chapel of St Mahew near Glasgow. Built in 1467 and standing on one of the earliest Christian missionary sites in Scotland, its sacrament house is one of the best specimens to have survived in the South West of Scotland. It is still in use as the Tabernacle to this day, housing the Blessed Sacrament, clearly visible to all those who worship or visit the chapel.

St Mahew’s Cardross

The current location of the Tabernacle at St Mary of the Assumption is being changed. The processes of reordering the Sanctuary to enhance the general appearance and provide a new focus on the sanctuary cross above the altar, the Tabernacle and the cathedra (the bishop’s chair) (st Mary’s Cathedral, website), will in my personal opinion greatly benefit this beautiful house of God. Placing the Tabernacle in a side aisle, is not uncommon and does not have to be a problem, it can still be a “worthy place” (CCC 1359). However, it is shame not to give Our Lord pride of place in the sanctuary, and I for one will am delighted for the change.

Sometimes things in life are hidden and not meant to be revealed to us yet (cf. 1 Cor 13:12), however not everything that is hiding, is meant to stay hidden to us. The many sacrament houses in Scotland are a good example. It is nice to put in the effort of finding them. Much like faith itself, it is a gift from God, but it still takes effort to be strengthened. Putting in effort to rediscover these hidden treasures of our rich Catholic tradition, can also help us along the way.

By By Kirsten Schouwenaars-Harms

Bibliography

[NB: Scriptural passages quoted according to the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition]

Catholic Church, (2016), Catechism of the Catholic Church, London, Catholic Truth Society

Dean, A., (2008), St Margaret’s, Huntly, The Story of a Parish, Huntly, Self Publicised

 Macpherson, A., (1891), Scottish Sacrament Houses, Edinburgh, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, <https://journals.socantscot.org/index.php/psas/article/view/6394/6363>

St Mary’s Cathedral Website, (2024), Reordering of the Sanctuary,  

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St Aidan | 30th August | 6th Century

​St Aidan was born in Ireland at the end of the 6th century and joined the other Irish monks who settled in the great Iona Monastery. From there he went to establish the famous monastery on Lindisfarne on the invitation of the Saint-King Oswald whose conversion to Christianity had happened under the influence of Ionan monks he encountered in Iona whilst in exile.

St Aidan became Bishop of Northumbria when Oswald had regained the Kingdom his father had lost in a battle in 633AD. St Aidan was known for his poverty, generosity and zeal for sharing the faith. He supported the establishment of Old Melrose, the earlier monastic settlement that predated Cistercian monastery which you can go and visit now. It is said he also helped Abbess Ebba establish a monastic community in Coldingham. His death in 651AD was the sign for a young shepherd by the name of Cuthbert to enter monastic rule at Melrose.

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