Mrs Elinor McBride and Mr Pierluigi Carena were awarded Benemerenti Medals at a ceremony following the 11am Mass at St Andrew’s Cathedral, on Sunday 23rd April 2023.
Two long-serving member of staff at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Dundee, have been honoured by Pope Francis for their dedication and commitment.
Mrs Elinor McBride and Mr Pierluigi Carena were presented with their Bene Merenti awards by Cathedral Administrator Canon Kevin Golden.
Among those in the congregation were her husband Andrew, brother Brian and wife Carol, sister Gemma and nieces Samantha, Natalie and Carolyn, as well as other family and friends. Her brother-in-law, Mgr Kenneth McBride, former Cathedral Administrator who married Andrew and Elinor in the Cathedral, concelebrated.
Elinor joined the choir in 1969 at the age of 15, leaving to go to Craiglockhart College, Edinburgh, to begin teacher training in 1972. She rejoined the choir in 1982 and there met Andrew, who always sang during his holiday visits from down south, the following year.
In 1985, Elinor started helping Anne Robertson, another Cathedral stalwart, with the flowers and she has been enhancing the liturgy with her floral arrangements ever since.
Along with Anne, Elinor was responsible for the myriad beautiful creations which adorned the cathedral for its 150th anniversary.
For Elinor, the highlight of her service was preparing the Cathedral to receive the relics of St Therese of Lisieux, a statue of whom she has had by her bedside since 1961, when she took Teresa as her confirmation name. On that occasion, supermarkets in Dundee were bereft of roses because Elinor had bought more than 500!
Elinor is the first to admit that she couldn’t continue in her role without the aid of her No. 1 helper, husband Andrew.
She said, “I am absolutely thrilled to receive this award. It has been my pleasure to be able to do the flowers in the Cathedral for so many years, for Sunday liturgies and for the big occasions which have been held in the church.
“I know I have been given the award, but it, but I am accepting it on behalf of the team behind the scenes, without whose time and effort the flowers would simply not be the same.”
Pierluigi has been an integral part of the Cathedral team of servers for over 40 years. Joining him at the celebration were his family in Scotland, Maria Pia, Ian, Patrick, Pauline, Innocente and Claudia, as well as many friends and colleagues. His family in Hertfordshire and Italy joined the celebration by livestream.
Pierluigi, retired Head of Chemistry at St Paul’s Academy, Dundee, came to Dundee from Ireland with his family in 1967. The priest there gave them the name of Canon Jack McKearney, who was priest in the Cathedral at the time.
It was then his late brother Mario started serving with the Cathedral Master of Ceremonies, Tom McPherson. Around the early 70s, Gigio became an altar server at St Joseph’s, Dundee, serving Canon Malloy. He recalls that Mass then was a mixture of pre and post-Vatican II, the Mass in English, but with the priest having his back to the congregation. With the announcement of a new Bishop of Dunkeld, Bishop Vincent Logan, the Cathedral team began planning for his Episcopal Ordination and Gigio was asked to join the servers.
He recalls, “We had many rehearsals and I took over from my brother as thurifer bearer. I can still recall Father David Ward, MC for the Mass, telling me I would be leading the procession and I had to go very, very slowly!”
Gigio says, “It has been a joy and a privilege to be on the altar in the Cathedral for so many years. I have loved it.
“As would be the case with working at the Cathedral, and the constant factor that is Tom, it has been a real team effort from all the servers and indeed all at the Cathedral.
“With all these years under my belt I have been able to pass on some of the traditions while working at St Paul’s, not least the tips about using olive oil to stop candle wax from sticking to the brass and using a brown piece of paper and a hot iron to take off candle grease from the carpets!”
Presenting them with their awards, Canon Kevin thanked them for their ministries in the Cathedral and their dedicated service to the Church.