St Mary of the Angels is a

Roman 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 ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church on Moorhouse Road in Bayswater,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England, within the City of Westminster. The parish it serves is partly in the City of Westminster and partly in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

History

A mission was started in Bayswater in 1849. As the labourers building Paddington Station were mainly Irish Catholic,

Cardinal Wiseman Nicholas Patrick Stephen Wiseman (3 August 1802 – 15 February 1865) was a Cardinal of the Catholic Church who became the first Archbishop of Westminster upon the re-establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1850. Bor ...

saw a need for a Catholic church in the area, and asked Provost Henry Manning to undertake the task. The construction of the original building began in 1851 to original designs by Thomas Meyer in the Puginian Gothic style. Meyers also built, around the same time, St Joseph's Church in Avon Dassett, Warwickshire. Work was temporarily interrupted due to lack of funds, but was completed in 1857 by Manning's kinsman

Henry Clutton Henry Clutton (19 March 1819 – 27 June 1893)Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Photograph , http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pis&GScid=1366392&GRid=12186732&PIgrid=12186732&PIcrid=1366392&PIpi=3000944& was an English arc ...

, with additions by

John Francis Bentley John Francis Bentley (30 January 1839 – 2 March 1902) was an English ecclesiastical architect whose most famous work is the Westminster Cathedral in London, England, built in a style heavily influenced by Byzantine architecture. Life Bentle ...

. Meyer also designed an earlier school chapel, also on Moorhouse Road. The church was initially dedicated to St Helen, in honour of Mrs Helen Hargrave, a benefactress."Bayswater -St. Mary of the Angels", Taking Stock
/ref> A stained glass window in the north aisle depicting St Vincent de Paul, the Madonna and St John the Evangelist was executed by James Powell & Sons, based on a sketch by John Hungerford Pollen for the Chapel of Studley Royal and adapted as a memorial to Pollen. The window depicting the Coronation of the Virgin is by Hardman & Co. It was listed as

Grade II* In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

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in 1970.

Oblates of St Charles

The Congregation of Oblates of St Charles were founded by Cardinal Wiseman. The religious orders established in his diocese did not seem to him to answer adequately to modern conditions, nor were they wholly at his disposal. The priests of the Oratory, gathered round Faber and Newman, showed him, however, what may be looked for from a diocesan society. Manning was at that time at the Cardinal's disposal, and it was to him that the duty was entrusted of founding the new society, and of drawing up its rules. Manning took the Oblates of Milan as his pattern, and gave his priests the title of "Oblates of St Charles". The rules which he prescribed for them were practically those drawn up by St

Charles Borromeo Charles Borromeo ( it, Carlo Borromeo; la, Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation combat ...

for his disciples adapted to English conditions, and were approved by the Holy See in 1857 and in 1877. Wiseman installed his Oblates, with their superior and founder, at the church of St Mary of the Angels, Bayswater, on Whit Monday 1877. Before long they had created other missions or religious centres in the diocese of Westminster. Nor did the opposition of Errington, Wiseman's coadjutor, and of the Westminster chapter, hinder the advance of the society, though the Cardinal found himself, under the necessity of withdrawing them from his seminary at St Edmund's, where he had placed them. Under Manning's direction, the Oblates devoted themselves to various apostolic labours in London, and established several parishes in the two dioceses of Westminster and Southwark. Manning governed the Bayswater community from 1857 to 1868. He held that the mission of the Oblates was to revive the English secular clergy by taking part in its life and in its labours, and thus setting them an example. In 1882, the Oblates opened Our Lady of the Holy Souls Church on Bosworth Road in Kensal New Town.

Ronald Knox Ronald Arbuthnott Knox (17 February 1888 – 24 August 1957) was an English Catholic priest, theologian, author, and radio broadcaster. Educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, where he earned a high reputation as a classicist, Knox wa ...

preached a sermon on St Charles Borromeo at St Mary's.Knox, Ronald. ''Captive Flames: On Selected Saints and Christian Heroes'', Ignatius Press, 2001, p. 123
The Oblates continued their ministry at St Mary's until the mid-1970s.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bayswater, Saint Mary of the Angels 1857 establishments in England 1857 in London Religious organizations established in 1857 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Saint Mary Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster Grade II* listed churches in the City of Westminster Grade II* listed Roman Catholic churches in England Henry Clutton buildings John Francis Bentley buildings Roman Catholic churches completed in 1857 Roman Catholic churches in the City of Westminster