'
St Bernardine's
'' is the

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 Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is in the joint

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of Buckingham and Brackley, together with

St Martin's Catholic Church, Brackley St Martin's is the Roman Catholic Church in Brackley. It is in the joint Parish of Buckingham and Brackley, together with St Bernardine's Catholic Church, Buckingham, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Northampton. External links St Martin's Catholi ...

History

St. Bernard began in the year 1892 when a Belgian

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

Friar, Father Thaddeus Hermans, looking to open a college for young men wishing to become Franciscans, arrived in

for the first time on the

Feast of the Ascension The Solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, also called Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday, or sometimes Holy Thursday, commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven. It is one of the ecumenical (i.e., shared by ...

. He rented a cottage in Elm Street, where he said the first Mass, finally settling on 9 Chandos Road to set up his first chapel. Later he was able to obtain the site on the London Road and by the end of 1895 he had built his college. Few Catholics lived near Buckingham then but in 1900 the registers record twelve Baptisms. The college was put under the

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of St Bernardine, a much revered Franciscan, and so the parish of St Bernardine was set around the college. The college chapel was blessed and opened for public worship in 1912.A History of the County of Buckingham: Volume 3, 1925
Refers to Catholic Church served by the

Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (also called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. The order adheres to the teachin ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the parish grew quickly. The Friars were called upon to open Mass centres in many of the surrounding towns and villages, including

Brackley Brackley is a market town and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, bordering Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, from Oxford and from Northampton. Historically a market town based on the wool and lace trade, it was built on the inters ...

. With changing circumstances the college closed in 1968. The buildings were sold to

Buckinghamshire County Council Buckinghamshire County Council was the upper-tier local authority for the administrative county and later the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in England, the United Kingdom established in 1889 following the Local Government Act 1888 ...

but the Friars were allowed to continue to use the chapel until the parish could build its own. Eventually it was decided to build onto the new Friary in Chandos Road where the Friars had set up their first chapel. The new church was blessed on 26 October 1974 by the

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 ca ...

Charles Grant and was dedicated in 1982. In 1989 the parish came into the care of the

Diocese of Northampton The Diocese of Northampton is one of the 22 Roman Catholic dioceses in England and Wales and a Latin Rite suffragan diocese of Westminster. Its see is in Northampton. The Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate and St Thomas of Canterbury is the moth ...

References

External links

St Bernardines Catholic Church, Buckingham

St Bernardine's College, college and chapel monks in foreground C.1910
(photo)
St Bernardine's College, chapel and college buildings
(photo)
St Bernardine's, Station Road, Buckingham
(Google Street View)
St Bernardine's, Station Road, Buckingham
(Google Map) {{coord, 51.9946, -0.9887, type:landmark_region:GB-BKM, display=title Buckingham Roman Catholic churches in Northamptonshire Roman Catholic churches in Buckinghamshire University and college chapels in the United Kingdom