Holy Angels Church is located in the lower west side of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, 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 2022 D'Youville C ...

. 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 later recognized as a Catholic saint. The congregation was ...

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 member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

John Timon John Timon, CM (February 12, 1797 – April 16, 1867) was an American Catholic prelate who served as the first Bishop of Buffalo and founded the Brothers of the Holy Infancy. He was a member of the Vincentians. Biography Early life John Tim ...

, who had recently organized the

Diocese of Buffalo The Diocese of Buffalo () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Western New York in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese within the metropolitan province of the Archdiocese of New York. The Diocese of Buffalo includes ei ...

, missionaries from the

arrived in 1851 to establish a

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

and college at the site of today's St. Joseph Cathedral

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...

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 more ...

and

insane asylum The lunatic asylum, insane asylum or mental asylum was an institution where people with mental illness were confined. It was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. Modern psychiatric hospitals evolved from and eventually replace ...

) 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 ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

and

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

, 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 Christian ...

, 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 (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

floor in the sanctuary, and hand-carved

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

. Further, two Tiffany

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

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–Front Park System, Delaware Park, extending ...

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