The Crusader Cross, as shown on the front of the altar, is a heraldic or Christian symbol consisting of a large Greek cross surrounded by four smaller Greek crosses , one in each quadrant.

Crusader Cross is so named because it was on the papal banner given to the Crusaders on the First Crusade and became a symbol of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.

The four smaller crosses are said to symbolize either the four books of the Gospel or the four directions in which the Word of Christ spread from Jerusalem.

Alternatively all five crosses can symbolize the five wounds of Christ during his Passion

The large EMBROIDERY or rather 'APPLIQUE' work {pictured above} behind the altar is the work of Mrs Frances Parker and three ladies who worked under her expert direction......Mrs T. Urquart, Mrs Sibbald and Miss G. Forsyth....The theme of the embroidery is the Incarnation, of which the Eucharist is the continuation.

There are six panels, three on each side of the CRUCIFIX, which is a gift from St. Angela's Convent, Portobello.

On the left...the Annunciation, the Birth of our Saviour, His Baptism by John at the beginning of His Preaching.

On the right... the Resurrection, Ascension, and descent of the Holy Spirit on Our Lady and the Apostles.

These panels present the whole Pascal Mystery to us and its beginning in us. We are taken up into this work of the Incarnation through the Eucharist...'the Word was made flesh and pitched His tent among us'.

The Latin for tent is TABERNACLE ..a gift from the Little Sisters of the Poor, Gilmore Place, Edinburgh, the OAK COVER of which was made by Lindsay Thomson, THE VEIL by Mrs T. Urquhart.

The SANCTUARY LAMP is a Mosque lamp from North Africa.

The CONFESSIONALS are the work of Thomas Thornton of Magdalene.

The HOLY WATER STOUP at the entrance of the weekday chapel is the work of Harry Bain of Dalkeith Road and is made of Scottish marble, the brown from Carlops, the green from Newburgh in Fife.

THe PROCESSIONAL CROSS made of fibreglass is the work of Jan Boczarski.

The ACOLYTE CANDLESTICKS are the gift of Mrs Agnes Forsyth of Portobello.

The ALTAR LINENS are the gift of many convents in Edinburgh.

The VESTMENTS were subscribed for by the children of St. John's School and some were made by good friends in Musselburgh who also presented AN ORGAN

The ALTAR PLATE was the donation of many benefactors.. Monsignor Monaghan, V.G., the Abbot of Fort Augustus, Little Sisters of the Assumption, Misses Mary Agnes and Miss Ella Maloney {R.I.P.} of Portobello, St. Christopher's School, The Apostolic Society of Thurles in Tipperary, and others who prefer to remain anonymous.