St Gerard's Church and Monastery collectively form one of Wellington's most distinctive and iconic landmarks. Located on Mount Victoria in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by m ...

, both buildings are classified as "Category I" ("places of 'special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance or value'") historic places by the

New Zealand Historic Places Trust Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

. They are built on the site of a sixteen-roomed house (called ''Fitzgerald's Folly'') and property owned by James Edward Fitzgerald who some claim to be New Zealand's first

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

. In April 2021, the owners of the buildings, the International Catholic Programme of Evangelisation (ICPE), announced that the church would close at the end of the following month due to safety concerns.

The Church

The church was built in 1908, to the design of

John Swan John Swan may refer to: *John Swan (engineer) (1787–1869), British marine engineer, pioneer of the screw propeller and inventor of the self-acting chain messenger *John Swan (Bermudian politician) (born 1935), British-Bermudian politician *John S ...

, for the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as

Redemptorists The Redemptorists officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer ( la, links=no, Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris), abbreviated CSsR,is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men (priests and brothe ...

, a

religious institute A religious institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in the Catholic Church whose members take religious vows and lead a life in community with fellow members. Religious institutes are one of the two types of institutes of consecra ...

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and brothers. The church was the first in the world to be dedicated to the Italian member of their order and saint,

Gerard Majella Gerard Majella (; 6 April 1726 – 16 October 1755) was an Italian lay brother of the Congregation of the Redeemer, better known as the Redemptorists, who is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church. His intercession is sought for children, ...

, after his canonisation. It is constructed to a simple gothic design built of brick, accommodating about 200 people. The church is noted for its assemblage of fine stained glass windows produced by Hardman and Son of Birmingham, "rated by the company the best they had ever exported." Swan designed the fine marble altar made of green Devonshire marble with supporting columns of green Galway marble, and throne and white steps of white

Carrara marble Carrara marble, Luna marble to the Romans, is a type of white or blue-grey marble popular for use in sculpture and building decor. It has been quarried since Roman times in the mountains just outside the city of Carrara in the province of ...

. A panel of Italian mosaics depicting the Annunciation adorns the altar front.

St Gerard

As the first church in the world dedicated to

, the church was the location for an oil painting of St Gerard in Ecstasy which was given by

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of ...

to the Wellington church in recognition of that status. The work was painted in Rome by Giovanni Gagliardi for the saint's

beatification Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their na ...

in 1893. In 1904, for the canonisation, the painting was carried through Rome in procession and hung in St Peter's.

The Monastery

Completed in 1932, funded by public donations, the three storied Monastery was constructed as a home for the Redemptorists. The foundation stone was laid by Archbishop Redwood and it was blessed and opened on 10 April 1932 by Archbishop O'Shea (who was

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "c ...

at that time).

Frederick de Jersey Clere Frederick de Jersey Clere (7 January 1856 – 13 August 1952) was an architect in Wellington, New Zealand. Biography He was born in Walsden, near Todmorden, Lancashire and trained as an architect before emigrating to New Zealand with his family ...

is usually regarded as the architect for the monastery in succession to, or in collaboration with his architectural practice partner, John Swan. The structure is of reinforced concrete with brick in-fill panels, Gothic windows and red-brick arches for the cloisters which are situated to benefit from the northern sun. The prominent and dominant position of the monastery has been preserved by the Wellington City Council acquiring property between the monastery and the cliff over

Oriental Bay Oriental Bay is a bay and suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Noted for being both a popular beach and a luxurious centre of affluence in the city, it is located close to the Central Business District on Wellington Harbour. ...

to prevent the buildings being obscured from view from almost any vantage point around Wellington Harbour.

The Redemptorists

The Redemptorists first arrived in Wellington in 1882 and were based in the Fitzgerald house from 1908 until its replacement by the monastery building in 1932. For 56 years from 1932 to 1988, St Gerard's Monastery was the centre of their mission in New Zealand. This consisted of the preaching of parish retreats and missions all around the country and they presented devotional activities at St Gerard's itself such as frequent and regular

novena A novena (from Latin: ''novem'', "nine") is an ancient tradition of devotional praying in Christianity, consisting of private or public prayers repeated for nine successive days or weeks. The nine days between the Feast of the Ascension and Pe ...

rosary The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or ...

and other devotions. The Redemptorists also had the

Holy Family The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on, but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de Laval, the first ...

Confraternity A confraternity ( es, cofradía; pt, confraria) is generally a Christian voluntary association of laypeople created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy. They are mos ...

for men and the Confraternity of

Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Our Lady of Perpetual Help (also known as Our Lady of Perpetual Succour) is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a 15th-century Byzantine icon with an alleged Marian apparition. The icon is believed to have ori ...

for women. "A well-patronised service was an undertaking always to have a priest available for anonymous confession or spiritual consultation at the press of a special doorbell." The monastery had an outstanding choir which was heard on radio in a series of services beginning in October 1927. Gradually the sermon took precedence over the music and this attracted more listeners, many of them non-Catholics. St Gerard's Monastery from the Waterfront

St Gerard's Monastery from the Waterfront

In 1988, because of the costs associated with the buildings and their own declining numbers, the Redemptorists decided to sell the buildings and remove the St Gerard painting.St Gerard's Monastery website
(retrieved 11 April 2018)

Institute for World Evangelisation

The complex was acquired in 1992 by the Institute for World Evangelisation - ICPE Mission, a Catholic association of the faithful, for use as a retreat and training centre for Catholic evangelist missionaries, to be operated by a resident community. The church's public worship role continued with a Mass celebrated by the Institute's priests every Sunday at 10.30am.ICPE Mission New Zealand
(retrieved 11 April 2018) In 2020 and 2021 ICPE was unable to run its missionary school due to restrictions on international travel following the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. At the same time, ICPE was struggling to secure sufficient funds to strengthen the earthquake-prone buildings. The last Mass would be celebrated on 23 May 2021. St Gerard's Monastery, Wellington, 2010

Notes

References

* * (photographs by Grant Sheehan) *

External links

IPCE Mission in New Zealand

Wellington City Council, St Gerard's Church and Monastery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Gerard's Church and Monastery Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in the Wellington Region Roman Catholic churches in Wellington City 1900s architecture in New Zealand 1930s architecture in New Zealand Redemptorist churches Frederick de Jersey Clere church buildings 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in New Zealand Gothic Revival church buildings in New Zealand