Holy Rosary Church is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church in Forest Hill,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

History

In 1882,

Basilian Basilian may refer to a number of groups who are followers of Saint Basil the Great and specifically to: * Basilian monks (founded c. 356), monks who follow the rule of Saint Basil the Great, in modern use refers to monks of Eastern Catholic Churc ...

Fr. Lawrence Brennan, parish priest of St. Basil's Church, purchased 50-acres of what was then remote farmland on

St. Clair Avenue St. Clair Avenue is a major east-west street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was laid out in the late 18th century by the British as a concession road (the Third Concession), north of Bloor Street and north of Queen Street. St. Clair Avenue ...

West. The land was intended to be a farm for St. Michael's College and Fr. Brennan constructed a

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

to train priests. On May 8, 1892, the cornerstone was laid for the novitiate and a chapel to serve as a parish church for the Irish population in the area. The parish was established in 1909. The parish grew rapidly and in 1924 Fr. Michael Oliver was appointed priest and instructed to oversee the construction of a new church.

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Neil McNeil Neil McNeil (November 23, 1851 – May 25, 1934) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver from 1910 to 1912 and Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto from 1912 to 1934. Early life McNeil was born in Hillsborough, Inverness County, Nov ...

laid the cornerstone for the new church on May 30, 1926. Fr. Oliver admired

English Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of Gothic cathedrals and churches, cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture, Got ...

churches and modeled the new Holy Rosary Church after St. Mary's Church in

St. Neots St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popul ...

. The church was designed by prominent Toronto-based Catholic architect Arthur William Holmes. Construction cost $150,000. The new church was blessed and opened on May 8, 1927. The first stained glass windows were dedicated in 1928 in memory of John Franklin Brown Jr., a parishioner who died in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Another memorial window was dedicated in 1945.

References

External links

* {{URL, holyrosary.ca/, Holy Rosary Church website Roman Catholic churches in Toronto 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Canada Roman Catholic churches completed in 1927 Gothic Revival architecture in Toronto Gothic Revival church buildings in Canada

History

See also

References

External links