Issue 1
400th Anniversary Edition
March 2016
Pontifical Scots College Newsletter
Rector’s Welcome
In this issue:
- Rector’s Welcome
Fr. Daniel Fitzpatrick
Father Daniel Fitzpatrick on the
newsletter and the 400th anniversary.
- Ogilvie and the Oath
Second year Joe McGill reflects on the
saint who inspired a seminary.
- Clement VIII: College Founder
and Baptizer of the Coffee Bean
Second year Christopher Doig considers
the influence our founding Pontiff had
on the Church in Scotland.
- The Call to Priesthood
I am delighted to be able to introduce the inaugural edition of the
new newsletter of the Pontifical Scots College in Rome. It is
important for us to be able to keep in touch with the many people at
home in Scotland, and elsewhere, whose prayers and support for the
College allow it to continue to play its important role in forming
priests for the dioceses of Scotland. We know that not everyone is
able to follow all that happens here using the new technology of our
website and social media, so we hope that this newsletter will allow
those of you who prefer paper to the screen to feel very much part of
this little part of Scotland out here in the city of the Apostles.
I would like to thank all those whose hard work and dedication have
helped produce this newsletter. They have worked hard to help give
our readers an insight into what we do here in the College and to the
wider interests and activities of our seminarians. I hope that you find
something to interest you and give you a sense of the life of the
seminary.
Third year Ryan Black tells us about his
vocation story so far.
- ‘Vale’
Fourth year Andrew McGowan
writes a poem.
- In the Footsteps of Saint James
Fifth year Emmet O’Dowd talks about a
recently completed pilgrimage.
For many years the College has been able to welcome many visitors
from parish groups and pilgrimages to families and friends of our
seminarians. Whatever your connection with the College, I invite
you to take a moment to remember us in your prayers as we
celebrate 400 years of priestly formation this year.
Father Daniel Fitzpatrick is a priest of the Diocese of Paisley.
He was appointed as Rector of the Pontifical Scots College
by Pope Francis in 2015
St. John Ogilvie, pray for us!
Portrait of St. John Ogilvie,
Royal Scots College, Salamanca
Log on to our new website, which was launched on 16th November 2015,
the Feast of Queen Saint Margaret of Scotland:
www.scotscollege.org
Ogilvie and the Oath
Joe McGill, Philosophy II
In the year 1616, on 10th March,
sixteen
students
took
the
missionary oath to return to
Scotland as secular priests. They
had been given three months by
Pope Paul V (formerly the first
Cardinal-Protector of the College)
to take the oath or leave the
College. This move was made as it
became clear that Scotland would
not return to the church of its own
accord and that priests were
needed to bring the faith to the
people.
This request by the Holy Father
had originally been met with some
reluctance; it was the first
anniversary of John Ogilvie’s
martyrdom that inspired the men
to devote themselves completely
to the Scottish Mission as priests.
This purpose began then and has
remained in the College now for
four hundred years.
This saint who inspires still today
over four hundred years after his
death played an immeasurable role
in the College’s history. Who was
this man whom we celebrate here
in Rome, along with the Church in
Scotland, on 10th March?
John Ogilvie was born around
1579 in Drum-na-Keith to a
Calvinist family, but while
studying in Louvain was received
into the Church in 1597. In the
years following, St. John Ogilvie
joined the Society of Jesus and
was ordained a priest in Paris in
1610.
house (an advocate of parliament
and secret Catholic), he became
famous for his devotion to the
duties of his vocation, comforting
and encouraging Catholics and
making converts.
In the autumn of 1613, St. John
Ogilvie was sent back to Scotland
to “reconcile as many as possible
to the Catholic Church.” Little is
known of the first six months of
his ministry around Scotland,
however he did travel to London
in February 1614 and most likely
met with James VI concerning a
political project to aid the King’s
relations with the courts of
Europe. This was not as unlikely
as it seems at first, as the King had
dealings with other Jesuits in the
past (his wife had been converted
to Catholicism by Fr. Abercromby
S.J. in 1600). Following this
escapade, his superiors sent
Ogilvie back to Scotland and it is
his work from then on that we
know best. Making his base in
Edinburgh at William Sinclair’s
martyrdom.
John Ogilvie is Scotland’s most
recent saint, but it is our hope and
prayer here in Rome that he is not
the last!
A few months later, in late August,
Ogilvie began working in
Glasgow as well, and found great
success there, rebuilding a
Catholic
congregation
in
Renfrewshire. This he continued
to do until he was arrested on 4th
October 1614 in Glasgow. After
months of trials and torture,
during which he never gave up the
identities of secret Catholics, he
was finally martyred at Glasgow
Cross on 10th March 1615.
Clement VIII: College Founder
and baptizer of the coffee bean
Christopher Doig, Philosophy II
This great saint has had a
profound effect on the history of
the Scots College in Rome, and
his example continues to inspire
the seminarians in the eternal city,
even four hundred years after his
Clement VIII is an important figure in the history of the
Scottish Church. During the Reformation, when Catholics
were heavily persecuted, and many were driven out of their
country, some clergy had made their way to Rome and
pleaded with the Pope for a place where young Scots could
be educated. A group of Scottish Jesuits, who were already
present in Rome, supported this request and Pope Clement
finally agreed to it. The Papal Bull was written on 5th
December 1600 and the Scots College eventually was opened
in 1602. For the past number of years we have had the
privilege of celebrating Mass in a private chapel of St Mary
Major’s Basilica where our founder’s tomb is located.
Ogilvie stained glass window
at the College
Today coffee has become probably one of the most popular
drinks in the West and it is an integral part of the life of a
Scottish seminarian. Without it, studying philosophy and
theology would be almost impossible; it would be like
climbing up a steep mountain without taking any water.
Clement VIII is also well known for welcoming the coffee
bean into the Christian West. His advisors were hoping it
would be banned because it had been brought by the
Muslims, with whom they had been at war, so they called it
the ‘drink of the devil’. The Roman Pontiff, intrigued by this
exotic drink, demanded to try it before making a decision.
He delighted in this wonderfully stimulating beverage and
said, “This devil’s drink is delicious. We should cheat the
devil by baptising it.” Thus it was given his blessing and then
spread throughout the Christian world.
Remember, the next time you are sipping your dark brew,
say in your heart ‘Deo Gratias!’ and thank Pope Clement
VIII as well.
Pope Clement VIII 1592-1605
Ogilvie Coat of Arms
Pontifical Scots College
Via Cassia 481, Rome
[email protected]
(Ippolito Aldobrandini )
The Call to Priesthood
Ryan Black, Theology I
There are a few questions that every
seminarian will be asked at least a
dozen times during his time in
seminary. One of them is, “Isn’t it
wonderful living in Rome?”, and
another is, “What made you decide
to go to seminary?”.
While the answer to the first
question changes depending on how
close to exams the seminarians are,
or how hot the Eternal City is in
June, the answer to the second
question never really changes.
I grew up in a Catholic family. My
brother and I were never given the
opportunity to think about whether
going to Mass was a good thing –
our parents decided that for us.
Every week, whether we liked it or
not, we would head to the church
and sit in the back pews (like all
good Catholics do). Like many
boys, I became an altar server after
I had received my First Holy
Communion, and from that time I
was always involved in some way
or another. I wouldn’t say that the
local church was a ‘home from
home’, but I knew growing up that
the Church would always be a part
of my life. In fact, my plan was
always to graduate from university,
get married, move to Hong Kong,
raise a family and become a deacon.
I left high school with good grades
and got into university, studying a
Master’s
Degree
in
Naval
Architecture
with
Ocean
Engineering. The plan was coming
together nicely.
I should mention here that I had
never believed in the idea of ‘the
call’. As far as I was concerned, the
many good and holy priests whom I
had met had all decided to become
priests in much the same way as I
had decided not to become one.
That changed in 2011. During my
second year at university, I travelled
to South Africa with my parish
priest and some other young
parishioners. We went with the
intention
of
establishing
a
relationship between our own
parish and poorer parishes there. To
do so effectively, we decided to stay
with two priests in a small rural
town near Johannesburg. Basically,
we shadowed these men as they
ministered to four different
communities in the surrounding
area. I returned from South Africa
having had an amazing and
humbling
experience.
Fairly
quickly, I began to resent the idea
of going to university every day.
Vale
by Andrew MacGowan, Theology II
When lightening crack whips up a
squall,
welcome quicksand waves enthral,
a walk across the windy lake,
exhausts the tempest, glass to make.
Would weakness from such energy
spent
break your will and cause relent?
Your icy back having turned my way;
endless night of darkest day!
Why punish me for Petrine treason?
I am not rock. I too had reason.
Why string me up with Judas noosed?
Bound is bound? Loosed is loosed?
Eventually, I was aware that I
was very unhappy. My ‘work’
as a DJ and radio presenter had
never been better, and my
social life was fairly typical of
someone who had all the
money of a university student
who lived at home. However,
something was missing.
I had a nagging feeling. The
best way that I can describe
what others refer to as ‘the
call’ is to say that eventually
the nagging feeling became so
obvious that I felt that I would
have been actively ignoring it
if I hadn’t done something
about it.
I spoke to my parish priest
about the feeling that I might
want to become a priest. He
referred me to the Diocesan
Vocations
Director,
who
helped me in the applicants’
process. I was able to keep
working, but I had become
certain that my future was not
as a naval architect. I left
university, which was not easy,
and continued to pray about
what God was calling me to
be. I was accepted for
seminary in early 2013, and
three years, later I could not be
happier (even if sometimes my
family and friends have to
listen to my complaining about
While every person who prays for
the community is a benefactor, it
seems appropriate to mention in
particular The Scots College
Society. The members are former
students of the College who wish
to support the current community
in a variety of practical ways.
Many of the members are not
priests, and when the Society had
its 100th meeting at the College in
2013, a number of the members’
wives joined us for the festivities.
If you are a former student of the
Pontifical Scots College in
Rome or would like to know more
about the Society, you can contact
the President:
Monsignor Christopher McElroy
c/o St. Andrew’s Cathedral House
90 Dunlop Street
Glasgow
G1 4ER
Tel: 0141 204 2409.
the exams and the Roman
heat).
Although there were many
factors in my vocation story,
including my trip to South
Africa and my upbringing in a
good home, above all the most
important was prayer. I never
used to pray much, but it is
essential to get used to going
to Confession on a regular
basis. It is also extremely
important to get used to
praying in front of the Blessed
Sacrament. How can we know
what God is saying to us if we
won’t talk or listen to Him?
A gift from one of our benefactors:
Our Lady holding the child Jesus
Benefactors
As we celebrate our 400th
anniversary of Priestly
Formation at the Scots
College this year, we give a
special thanks to all our
benefactors, both living and
dead. We give thanks to them
every day after lunch, and
Mass on a Wednesday is
offered for those who have
been so kind and generous to
the college.
In the Footsteps of Saint James
Emmet O’Dowd, Theology III
Why follow the Camino to
Santiago de Compostela in
Galicia in north-western Spain?
This past summer as luck, or
rather providence would have it,
I was fortunate enough to find
out what all the fuss is about.
After a retreat in the Monastery
of Montserrat, near Barcelona, I
had just enough time to follow
the Camino from there to
Santiago before I had to return to
seminary for the start of the
academic year. It is said that you
should start your Camino on
your own doorstep. Now since
my doorstep for that particular
week happened to be on the
front door of Montserrat, it
seemed only right to begin my
Camino there and to get my first
stamp in my Credencial, or
pilgrim passport, from the
monks.
My route from Montserrat to
Santiago was nearly 750 miles
long, and I only had three weeks
to get there. In addition to that, I
only had five days to get from
Montserrat to Logroño, some
300 miles away. This was because
I had arranged to meet up with
some friends there who were
following the French Way. We
planned to go on together from
Logroño to Santiago. All of this
meant that the traditional way of
travelling on foot was out of the
question and so I decided to use
another acceptable option, and, if
I'm honest, my favourite mode of
transport—my bicycle!
Way as far as Logroño. On this
route I only met five other
pilgrims following the Camino.
As I travelled along, I soon
became accustomed to looking
out for the two things essential to
a successful Camino. The little
yellow arrows which point the
way to Santiago and the
albergues. The arrows are
common sights along the Way,
and it is amazing how quickly you
become dependent on them.
The albergues were very
common too, and they were also
basic and very cheap. So quiet
was the Catalan Way that I was
often the only pilgrim staying in
the Albergues. Once I arrived in
Logroño all of that changed. I
met up with my friends and
encountered many of the other
pilgrims who followed this most
popular of routes.
stands out: the Basilica of Our
Lady of the Pillar, in Zaragoza.
This magnificent church is built
on the site of what is said to be
the first church ever to be
dedicated to Our Lady. Local
tradition tells that Our Lady
appeared at this spot to St. James
himself during his original efforts
to evangelise this part of Spain.
I had the great pleasure and
privilege of meeting so many
wonderful pilgrims and locals
along the Way and having so
many wonderful experiences that
I would never be able to recount
them all here. This was my first
pilgrimage to the tomb of St.
James and it will stay with me
forever, but God willing it won’t
be my last. Although next time, I
From Logroño we travelled might just follow in St. James'
quickly stopping briefly in the footsteps, rather than cycle over
cities and staying in the smaller them.
towns further along the Way. We
saw the great cathedrals of
Burgos and Leon, and cycled
throu gh vine yards w hic h
stretched for hundreds of miles.
We struggled up the mountain to
the Cruz de Ferro, the highest
point along the Way and were
glad of the views and the rest at
the top.
On the second last day, we
entered rained-soaked Galicia,
whose architecture and climate
made us feel like we had been
transported to some remote
corner of Scotland or Ireland. It
was as if we were being
reintroduced to our weather in
order to prepare us for going
home, for the end was now in
sight. On the following day, in the
late evening of the 14th of
September, we arrived in
Santiago de Compostela and
glimpsed the great cathedral
which houses the final resting
place of the Apostle St. James.
In Santiago we went first to the
Pilgrim's Office to collect our
‘Compostela’ and then to the
Cathedral for Mass and to
venerate the relics of St. James in
thanksgiving for a successful
The Way between Montserrat pilgrimage. Before we knew it, we
As I set out from Montserrat, I and Logroño is dotted with quiet were boarding the plane to go
cycled along the much quieter little towns and beautiful home.
Camí de Sant Jaumeor Catalan churches, but one in particular
Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar,
Zaragoza
“Small gestures of love, of
tenderness, of care, make
people feel that the Lord is
with us. This is how the
door of mercy opens.”
Pope Francis
Forthcoming Events
+ Prayer Intentions +
@ Pontifex
March
18-24th
Holy Week Retreat
April
Fri 8th
Charity Quiz Night (Mary’s Meals)
+We pray for the men from the college who will be ordained
on 1st May as deacons: Paul Denney, Bernard Mournian and
Jonathan Whitworth.
11th-14th
Thu 14th
Episcopal Visitation
Mass with Institution of Lectors
+We pray for the men who will be ordained this summer as
priests: Rev. Matthew Carlin and Rev. Jamie McMorrin.
May
Sun 1st
Sun 15th
Diaconate Ordinations
Candidacy Mass
June
Fri 24th
Thu 30th
Priestly Ordination of Rev. Jamie McMorrin
Priestly Ordination of Rev. Matthew Carlin
+We pray for the benefactors of the Scots College, living and
dead. May God bless those who have been good to us for His
sake.
+We pray for Andrew McGowan as he prepares for his
marathon on Sunday 10th April in order to raise money for St
Margaret’s Hospice in Clydebank.