Holy Angels Church is located in the lower west side of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, adjacent to

D'Youville College D'Youville University (D'Youville or DYU) is a private university in Buffalo, New York. It was founded as D'Youville College in 1908 and named by the Grey Nuns after the patroness saint Marie-Marguerite d'Youville. As of Fall 2020 D'Youville Co ...

. The parish has been served by the

Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, ...

from 1851-2020. In October 2020, D'Youville College purchased the Holy Angels Church, Rectory, and Convent.

History

At the request of

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

John Timon John Timon, C.M. (February 12, 1797 – April 16, 1867) was a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the bishop of the new Diocese of Buffalo in Western New York and founder of the brothers of the Holy Infancy religious order. B ...

, who had recently organized the Diocese of Buffalo, missionaries from the

arrived in 1851 to establish a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

and college at the site of today's St. Joseph Cathedral rectory on Franklin Street. It quickly became clear a larger facility was needed. The site of the present-day Holy Angels Church was purchased in 1852, where two abandoned buildings (formerly the county

poorhouse A poorhouse or workhouse is a government-run (usually by a county or municipality) facility to support and provide housing for the dependent or needy. Workhouses In England, Wales and Ireland (but not in Scotland), ‘workhouse’ has been the ...

and

insane asylum The lunatic asylum (or insane asylum) was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. The fall of the lunatic asylum and its eventual replacement by modern psychiatric hospitals explains the rise of organized, institutional psychiatry ...

) were converted into a college and chapel. In 1856, construction began on a permanent house of worship, which was dedicated by Bishop Timon in 1859, although it was incomplete. In 1874 work was started on the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

and

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

, completing the building's modern appearance a year later. Renovations to the interior in 1898 added marble side

altars An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganism ...

, a marble

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

floor in the sanctuary, and hand-carved Stations of the Cross. Further, two Tiffany stained glass windows were installed by the main altar. These windows were displayed at the

Pan-American Exposition The Pan-American Exposition was a World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is now Delaware Park, extending from Delaware Avenue to Elmwood A ...

in 1901. Between 1959 and 1962, the church enjoyed its largest membership, with over 2,400 families registered. This was followed by a decline in membership as families moved to the suburbs. In 1986, the church was extensively restored, and rededicated in 1987. In 2020, Holy Angels Church was decommissioned and sold to D'Youville College.

Gallery

Image:Holy angels church 2.jpg, Front outside View Image:Holy angels church rear.JPG, Rear of the church Image:Holy angels church sign.JPG, Plaque outside the church

References

External links

Holy Angels Parish in Buffalo

Holy Angels Parish Facebook Page
{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, state=collapsed Religious organizations established in 1851 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Roman Catholic churches in Buffalo, New York 1851 establishments in New York (state) Roman Catholic churches completed in 1875

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links