By Cara Sulieman
WORSHIPPERS got a shock on Sunday when their service was interrupted – by a plea for a sausage roll.
The congregation at Paisley’s St Mirin’s Cathedral were stunned into silence when a booming voice came over the loudspeaker demanding “Who’s going to get me a sausage roll?”
But it wasn’t ghostly goings on in the cathedral – instead a faulty sound system had picked up a passerby’s voice as he walked near the church gates.
And Reverend Eoin Patten was forced to leave the alter halfway through Mass to get to the bottom of the problem.
One worshipper, who did not want to be named, said: “No-one could quite believe their ears and didn’t know where to look.”
“I don’t think Father Patten was too happy, but I have to confess I found it hilarious. You never know what’s going to come over the speakers these days.
“I enjoy Mass at the best of times, and I enjoy Father Patten’s sermons. But this certainly brought more than a few smiles to people’s faces.”
At first the priest thought the noise had come from the hall next door, and left his sermon to investigate.
But the hall was empty and eventually, after resetting the sound system the congregation were allowed to continue with their worship.
Yesterday Father Patten admitted he had no idea what had happened, but insisted the sound system had picked up on other sounds before.
He said: “It happened right at the start of Mass. There was a loud noise coming out of the speakers so I paused and switched the system off.
“When I switched it back on the noise was gone.
“I think it might have been a passing taxi or something else on the same frequency.”
And he joked: “I hope they got their sausage roll.”
The popular cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Paisley, the Right Reverend Philip Tartaglia.
Last year, St Mirin’s held a celebration to mark 60 years of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paisley with Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Faustino Sainz Munoz paying a special visit.
