NEW CHURCH OF ST. MARY, OF THE ANGELS, WELLINGTON

New Zealand Tablet, 13 November 1919, Page 17

NEW CHURCH OF ST. MARY, OF THE ANGELS, WELLINGTON

FOUNDATION STONE LAID. : '::.' On • Sunday afternoon, November 2 (says the Evening Post), the foundation stone, of the new St. Mary of the Angels' Church in Boulcott Street was laid by his Grace Archbishop O'Shea. In spite of the inclement weather, there was a large number of people present, including Sir Joseph Ward, the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke), Mrs. Luke, and many prominent Catholic citizens. As yet, only the foundations have been erected, but a good idea can be gained of the size of the church when it will be completed in about 12 months' time. The ceremony of laying the stone - was carried out with full ritual, as traditional in the Catholic Church, Archbishop O'Shea being accompanied by the Very Rev. Dean Holley, Father Mahony, and a number of the local clergy. The impressive ceremonies, although somewhat marred by the rain, could not fail to make one realise that a great work was being commenced for the benefit of Catholic worshippers and for the city. Having blessed the foundations, the Archbishop addressed those present, stating that the ceremony just performed marked an important event in the history of the parish of St. Mary's. That day was formally commenced the "erection of a new church to replace the one destroyed by fire about 18 months ago. That church wis an historic one, and with it were associated in the minds of the Catholics of Wellington many sacred memories. For many years it was the centre of the labors of the first priest who ■ ministered to their spiritual wants, and it was thus a connecting link with the past. Not only with Catholics, but with many who did not belong to the Church, the late Father O'Reilly's name was a household word in the days when Wellington was only a "fishing village on Cook Strait." That venerable priest saw, nob merely the beginnings of Catholicity on the shores of Port Nicholson, but the birth of the little colony of courageous and intrepid men and women who nearly SO years ago laid the foundations of Wellington. Si). Mary's, in which the late priest ministered, was a landmark of old Wellington, and its destruction was a great loss to the older members of the congregation and to many Catholics in the Dominion, who had been baptised or married, or at least who had worshipped in it. It Mas going to be replaced by a building of an entirely new order. As a completely different architecture had arisen on the foundations of old Wellington, so would be reared on the, foundations of the old church a temple of solid and lasting material, which would be a thing of beauty, and, as far as a temple made by hands could ever be, worthy of the Most High, to Whose worship it would be dedicated. He hoped that it would also be worthy of the Catholic Church, ever the mother and mistress of architecture, and all the arts, and that it would he a welcome addition to the architecture of the capital of New Zealand. The building of the church would be the reintroduction of something of a very old order. During the recent war many New Zealandersour soldiers who fought so heroically on the battlefields of Europe

•were brought into close relation with that old order in

the shape of historic churches and public buildings that dated back to the early ages. The able architect who

designed, 1 the- new church , had ; translated visions of those past centuries- into ,the jrdesign of the. buildings shortly,- to be- erected^ «It > would i serve-, for all - who- read; its ? meaning aright : to raise the mind * and the. soul to - things of the spirit/. Our* modern, world, which prided itself •. on . its. progress ‘ and. up-to-dateness, had many good;) and desirable things, but people/were often-inclined to- believe.-that- this century possessed” a monopoly,- of the best- things of. life*Such a:> thing, in the speaker’s opinion, ■ was-far- from* the truth, and a building such :• as»the one he was speaking/ of*' would; serve < to* remind, men, when they,- gazed on it, , even should they not enter it. to worship, that there were-better things in - life' than- money-making and commercialism. It would also serve carry.- men- back to the; centuries of man’s- greatest -achievements; in the higher things;- of the mind. It might even induce a study, not only of- the architecture of those great centuries, but something, also of their, social, religious, and: political life. It might be learnt then that the men who had. souls above the sordid and mean things of life knew not only, how to rear beautiful and enduring buildings/ as-well as paint and seulpr tore the world’s masterpieces, but knew also how- to order society after a fashion that made- for the- greater- happiness and content of the. people. In those olden' days r they might not have amassed the wealth of the present time, but what they had was divided more evenly amongst the people. The great discrepancies between the amounts possessed by the. rich and the poor that exist in- modern times did not then exist, but at the same time they were not the. stagnant communities in trade and commerce that some people would" have us think. In those centuries were flourishing.- cities and busy ports, and, above all, the plain people had. a fairer share of the resources of the earth and the. products of their labor-than- at any other time of the world’s history. No wonder many able men of the present day had spoken and written of the Middle Ages with growing enthusiasm, and had not hesitated to call the 13th century the greatest of all the centuries, because- of the wonderful"" achievement in every department of human activity. Those times were- by no means perfect, but they approached more nearly; to- perfection than anything that the world had witnessed before or since. They had their miseries and their limitations they had even their wars—but, in view of recent happenings, moderns could not boast of superiority in that matter. Even if men of the past centuries did-, make war on each other, those who made, or caused war did- all the fighting themselves, and did not conscript others to do it for them. If the erection of such a building as St. Mary’s would remind men, not only of the art and architecture of the far-off centuries, but would lead them to study other things about them, it would accomplish some good. It would perhaps help them to shed some of their false notions about times so much misrepresented and misunderstood, and, should they endeavor to imitate them in their solution of many of the social problems of to-day, the world would be a better and a happier place to live in. With such a hope he laid the foundation stone of the church, and referred- to the fact that in a church of the same name St. Francis of Assisi began- his immortal work of social and moral regeneration- at a time of transition in the world’s history that bore a resemblance to the crisis of the present time. Perhaps the work now commenced might foreshadow a return to the

ideals for which St. Francis lived and labored; Such ideals were needed in the world at - present. An able :architect, - who had caught .'some of the, spirit the past, had designed the building. r The Archbishop congratulated him and his partner on their work, and felt sure that the contractor and -, his men ; would , carry, out the , - architect’s ideas. In -the , past men working on such ~buildings took a" pride in the work, knowing, as they did, that they were assisting somewhat in bettering the world.' Should such sentiments inspire all who had an interest in the work, the building of the church should be carried to completion in all its beautiful proportions. The Rev. Father Mahony, parish priest of St. Mary’s, thanked the people for their past generosity and encouragement, and hoped that the occasion would be a real red-letter day in the matter of donationsthat the subscriptions would total such an amount as would warrant the carrying out of the building of St. Mary’s to completion. The collection then taken up, together with donations forwarded, amounted to the magnificent total of a little over £l3O0 —a sum that would have been greatly increased had not the weather been so unpropitious. The following attest, with newspapers and current coins of the realm, was placed in a cavity behind the foundation stone :—•

Huno lapidem primarium huius Ecclesiae, Sub invocatione Sanctae Mariae de Angelis, Benedicto XV. Divina Providentia Papa, Georgio V. Brittanniae Rege, “Liverpool” e nobilitate Brittanica comite, has insulas gubernante, Stanislas Mahony S.M. paroeciae rectore, Illmus et Revmus Thomas, Gortinensis, Archiepus cleri populique magno concursu stipatus, anno pacis restitutae, post helium omnium memoria hominum maximum finitum.

The exterior of what will be a magnificent edifice, as may be judged by the fine illustration of it which we gave in the . Tablet on October 30, is decidedly strikingespecially the facade towards Willis Street, which consists of a high gabled wall containing a large rose or wheel window, and flanked by two four-storied pinnacled towers rising to a height above the pavement of 106 feet. The two upper storeys of these towers will have open tracery sides, while at the front and outside angles will be square turrets containing the circular staircase giving access from the ground floor to the roof. Though these are suggestive of the famous Somersetshire towers of the 15th century, the turrets alter their character entirely, and in the position of the towers in relation to each other and to the main gable, the composition is most satisfactory. The side towards Boulcott Street, extending nearly 150 feet, presents a rich " effect of aisle and clerestory windows, broken by the projecting confessionals and the large northern side chapel. Inside, the building will have a roomy and spacious appearance. The main features arc two long arcades of nine arches each. Above these is a series of panels suggesting the triforium of the earlier Gothic, while above all are the clerestory windows containing 113 lights, divided by mullions and surmounted by traceried heads. All the Upandrills, both inside and out, are richly pannelled. The church is 33 feet w-'de between the arcades, and all the seating (excepting that of the chapels) is contained within the nave, so that each worshipper can have an uninterrupted view of the altar. The choir (accommodation is provided lor 40) will he in a gallery at the entrance end of the church. As tin* church will he approximately 150 feet by 00 feet in width, it will rank among the largest sacred edifices of the Dominion, and its central position will make it among the best, known. In material and design it will be about the first of its kind anywhere in the world, and consequently its erection should mark a new epoch in architectural progression. : The public, no doubt, will watch its progress with great interest, and its completion will be a source of gratification, not onlv to Catholics, but to all lovers of progressive architecture.

CHURCH OF ST^ROCHp HANMER SPRINGS • i The long-looked-for blessing of peace came to us well nigh 12 months ago, November, 1918. For more than four years the angel of death brought his message to thousands or homes. Thousands of our boys are buried in many lands. Iheir priests, careless of danger/stood by them, and through their ministrations prepared them to face death fearlessly. The blood of priests and boys flowed in the same stream, their last remains rest in the same grave. Their memory shall never die. The last : words of St. Monica to her son St. Augustine would be, if possible, their last words to us: "Bury my body anywhere; I desire nothing but a remembrance at the altar of God." «**'*■-* I promise, each time I stand at God's altar in-the Church of St. Roch during 1919 and 1920, to offer up-the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for all your friends who have died as a result of the war arid the epidemic, also all your intentions. - .. •."-■;■■■ I beg to acknowledge the following additional donations:— £2 2s each, Very Rev. Dean Regnault (Christchurch), Dr. Morkano (Christchurch). £1 each, Mr* P. Daly (Hinds), Mr. P. F. Ryan (Weedons), Mr. 'and Mrs'. T. Cronin (Timaru), Mrs. Fabling (30 Duncan Street, Kilbirnie, Wellington), C. Emery (Stonyhurst),- Mrs: Tir.pany (85 Jarrow - Street, Invercargill), Mrs. K. (Kaikoura), Miss Fitzpatrick (Little River). 10s each, friend (Hokitika), F. Nees (Makomako), Mr. P. Landers (St. Bathans). 5s 6d, Mrs. Goldie (44 Queen Street, Petone). 5s each, Mrs. Bethel] (68 Hutt Road, Petone), Mrs. Farley \'i*'* Hutt Road, Petone), I. R. (Dunedin), West Coaster (Kaiwaiwai, Feafherston), E. H. E. and Family, J. J. Goulding, Tom Frazer, James Weight (Hanmer), Margaret McAleer (Waitohi, Temuka), M. J. Thompson (116 Knowles St., St. Albans, Christchurch). 3s, Miss B. Corcoran, 2nd don. (Harapepe). 2s 6d, Client (Greymouth). Donations will be acknowledged each week in the Tablet. Yours very gratefully, Rev. J. P. O'Connor, Hawarden, Canterbury.