September 1982 Print

"You should get a church"—the momentous words from His Grace Archbishop Lefebvre as he looked out over a large congregation of British traditionalists assembled in the elegant classical surroundings of Chelsea Old Town Hall in London, Saturday, May 2nd, 1981. Although at the time the task seemed quite beyond our meagre financial resources and small numbers, His Grace added: "The money will come. You must pray—pray hard." And this is just what we set out to do: pray hard and get a church. Thus began our search which, in less than a year, was to see the acquisition of the first church in Britain for the Society of Saint Pius X.

We have, in this country, four priests of the Society: the Superior Father Edward Black, Father Roland Gierak, Father Thomas Glover and Father John Emerson who, together with two secular priests—Father Clifford Beecroft and Father Peter Lessiter—serve thirty-three Mass centres located throughout the United Kingdom, as far north as Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland, down to London and the south coast of England and as far west as Falmouth in Cornwall. Mass is celebrated in village halls, hotel rooms and private houses, but we do have one tiny chapel in Dorset. We have two houses of the Society, the first St. Michael's House in Highclere, a small village in the downland countryside on the borders of Hampshire and Berkshire, near Highclere Castle, the renowned home of the Earl of Caenarvon. The other, St. Mary's House, purchased in 1979, is a smaller house situated in the West Yorkshire village of Cowling, which is high up on the wild Yorkshire Moors, very near the famous village of Howarth, where the literary Brontë family lived. Two priests live at St. Mary's House and they serve the northern centres, while the four priests based at St. Michael's House look after the southern and western areas.

The Society had tried to obtain a church in London since the mid-1970's, the most notable attempt taking place in 1976-77, when after many months of searching, a suitable church was found in the north London suburb of Islington. This church was to be leased, as at that time we did not have enough money to even consider purchasing such a property. However, after many months of protracted negotiations, this project, to our great regret, proved a disappointment. One or two smaller churches were considered, but in the end nothing came of these efforts.

The London Mass Centre had started in the very early days of 1971 in a private house with Holy Mass celebrated on only one Sunday each month. The centre had gradually increased in size until now, when it numbers over three hundred souls. To accommodate the increasing congregation a room was found at the Great Eastern Hotel, and finally the centre was moved to the Great Western Royal Hotel, Paddington. This is one of the large railway hotels in London and is connected to Paddington Railway Station which is the terminus of what was once the Great Western Railway, whose famous designer, Isambard Kingdom Brunei, designed the station building in 1854. The hotel itself, which hides the iron and glass of the station proper, was designed by the younger Hardwick, also in 1854, in the then newly fashionable French Renaissance style. This, then, is where two Masses were celebrated each Sunday morning in a large airy first floor reception room for the London congregation. On Holy Days we were obliged to hire a small hall in Islington and here the faithful assembled for special weekday Masses and for days of prayer.

The need for a church in London was indeed great, and Father Black had been scouring the suburbs for some time for a suitable redundant church. It was only possible to consider a place in the suburbs as central London property prices were quite out of the question. Quite providentially he had, just a few weeks before His Grace's visit, looked at a disused church, again in a north London area, a few miles from the city centre. It had been an United Reformed Church and was called St. Ninian's (an early Scottish saint) but at the time Father first saw it, it was beyond our reach financially; offers of over one hundred thousand pounds to be considered. How strange that the Archbishop should mention this subject just now! And here we were in a hired hall, listening to His Grace telling us of the marvellous church he was shortly to bless in Kansas and of all the many other churches administered by the Society in the United States of America! But we did not have sufficient money, and with the inflation rate at such a high level less and less chance each year of gradually collecting sufficient.

That was until our first "miracle!" We placed the whole plan under the protection of St. Joseph, and he started to act almost immediately after Archbishop Lefebvre's visit to us had ended. For in the following week Father Gerard Hogan, who was at that time working here in England with us, had one of those startling ideas of which everyone says, "I wish I had thought of that! it is so simple!" He suggested that we ask two hundred of our supporters each to contribute two hundred fifty pounds (about $500) for the purchase of a church. This would yield at least half of the anticipated price of a church!

Work went ahead feverishly and the appeal was launched with feelings of guarded optimism. On May 13th, just eleven days after the Archbishop's sermon in London, we sent out the first batch of letters. On May 14th, the next day, we had already received $2,000 from members of the local congregation at Highclere. From then on the response was utterly overwhelming, for by Saturday, May 16th, we had received over $22,000! With the money pouring in so rapidly it was decided to make an offer for St. Ninian's, and this was done on May 18th, the very day we commenced a perpetual novena to St. Joseph for the successful outcome of the negotiations. A week after the first appeal-letters had been sent out we had received over $72,000, and after a fortnight we had already exceeded our target of $100,000! By June 2nd, only a month after the Archbishop's visit, saw the amount risen to the staggering figure of $140,000. This figure increased until it finally reached just over $166,000.

This was a huge vote of confidence in the Society and reflected the keen desire of the faithful for a church, a permanent place of worship in the capital where Holy Mass, the Mass of all time, could be celebrated with due dignity and splendor in fitting surroundings. The donations had come in from supporters all over the country and were by no means confined to our London congregation.

Now began an anxious time of waiting. In June we increased our offer in the hope of speeding up negotiations and still the sellers hesitated. By August there were so many interested parties in this property that the terms of sale were changed and St. Ninian's was put out to public tender. We re-submitted an increased offer and had further period of tense waiting.

On August 31st, Father Black arranged a special Day of Prayer to implore St. Joseph to intercede for us and this was enthusiastically supported, with the people making great efforts and sacrifices to spend the day in the chapel at Highclere watching before the Blessed Sacrament.

But as time went on we became less confident of a successful outcome. The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows dawned (September 15th), the day we were to receive the decision of the sellers as to who had been successful in obtaining the church. This sad day saw the dashing of our hopes: St. Joseph had not wanted us to have this particular church. It had gone to an "Eastern Cultural Group" (Hindus) who, in the words of the agents, "has offered an incredibly high figure."

Blessed be God and blessed be His Holy Will! We would have to start all over again!

However, all was not lost. We now had a very large sum of money ready to offer when the right church did appear on the market. Our resolve never faltered, nor our confidence in the final outcome. Several places were investigated, none proved suitable.

And then a keen-eyed supporter discovered a small disused church property in Holloway—again in a northern suburb but this time even nearer to central London and very well served by public transport. Strangely enough, Holloway is an extension of Islington, the place where the Society had tried to lease that very first church back in 1976. The wheel had turned full circle! Holloway is a mid-Victorian suburban development on the Great North Road, one of the oldest thoroughfares leading out of London.

This time it was decided that great discretion should be exercised and that these negotiations should be conducted entirely in secret, to avoid any outside influences damaging our chances of a purchase. Father Black viewed the church for the first time on October 9th, and found it to be very suitable indeed. Although it appeared plain and even dull from the outside, the interior proved to be an extremely pleasant surprise! Called the Church of Saint Padarn (a native of Brittany who had helped to evangelize Wales in the 5th century) it had belonged to the Welsh Anglican Church who had vacated it some time ago. Built at the end of the last century this compact and intimate church holds approximately 250 people. With one central aisle, it is furnished with dark wood pews, a stone font and is lit by lancet windows set high in the side walls and reaching far up into the lofty beamed roof. A large leaded window at the rear of the building lights the west end. The pulpit is panelled and carved in restrained style. This decoration of carved paneling is carried into the sanctuary area and surrounds the altar, which is itself carved in matching style. The altar is approached by wide shallow steps. The main feature of the church is the completely intact stained glass. There are three windows dominating the apse; the central lancet depicting St. Padarn in rich glowing colors, and the windows on the either side displaying the armorial bearings of the ancient diocese of Wales. This seemed quite a miraculous find and just what we wanted, and Father Black lost no time in making an offer for it. We re-doubled our prayers and left it all in the hands of St. Joseph.

It can be imagined with what joy and prayers of thanksgiving we received at 4:45 p.m. on the gloomy afternoon of October 28th the telephone call to say, "Your offer for St. Padarn's has been accepted!" So after just three weeks since Father's first seeing the church, it was ours. Our prayers had been granted. But still the news was to remain a secret. An announcement would not be made until the full surveys had been completed, the contracts signed and Father Black actually held the keys of the church in his hand.

The joyful surprise burst upon the people on the 1st of March, 1982, the beginning of the month dedicated to St. Joseph, when all who had contributed to the appeal received a letter giving them the wonderful news. Their contributions which had been placed on deposit at the bank had gained interest and now had become exactly the amount required to purchase the church outright! Their own church and without a debt to pay off! The prayers and sacrifices of so many had been rewarded. How providential it had all been. From our initial disappointment sprang renewed hope and we secured a church more fitted to our needs.

In early March groups of people could be seen entering the church with brushes and dusters and brooms—they had come to clean and tidy and polish so that we could start using the church as soon as possible for Mass. The builders had promised that they could carry out their necessary works whilst we were using the church and therefore it seemed unnecessary to delay, as the church was in sufficiently good condition to be used immediately.

However, after several years of neglect much work needs to be carried out to return this delightful church to its former decorative condition. It has stood empty for some time and in consequence has been damaged by dampness and vandals—the organ has been so spoiled that it is unusable. Very soon work will start on the renovations and we hope the church will be ready for the blessing by Archbishop Lefebvre towards the end of this year. A fund for the cost of repair works has now been opened and gradually money is coming in to help complete this costly task.

The London congregation assisted at their first Mass in their new church on March 28th, Passion Sunday. It was only fitting, however, that the very first Mass to be celebrated in the church should be on March 19th, the feast of St. Joseph, who, together with St. Padarn, is to share the dedication. From now on it is to be the Church of SS. Joseph & Padarn.

It can be imagined with what anticipation we arrived at the church on March 19th to decorate the altar with gold and white lilies and to place a statue of St. Joseph, our Patron, in a shrine surrounded by a profusion of flowers and aglow with votive lights. Although March 19th fell on a Friday and the Mass was at 1:00 p.m, the church was packed to overflowing. For the very first time the figure of St. Padarn looked lovingly down from his window upon the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass taking place on this altar. And as Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar was raised on high, so softly translucent against the dark background, many tears of joy and love were mingled with prayers of thanksgiving and supplication for our Holy Mother the Church as a feeling of wonderment and awe stole over us, for we truly understood that "with God all things are possible."