St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Toronto

St. Thomas Aquinas Church or Newman Chapel is a Roman Catholic church within the St. George campus of the University of Toronto. It was built in 1926-1927 as a chapel for the Newman Centre next door. In 1995, it became a quasi-parish church. It is situated on the corner of Hoskin Avenue and St. George Street in Toronto, next to Massey College.

History

Origin

Before the site was church, it was a coach house attached to the home of Wilmot Deloui Matthews. He was businessman, owner of W. D. Matthews and one time president of the Toronto Board of Trade. He built the house from 1890 to 1891. He died in 1919 and the whole site was purchased by the Newman Club in 1922. At first, before the church was built, Mass was held in the Oak Room of the house next door.^[2]

However, as the size of congregation increased, it was realised that a larger space for Mass was required. Plans were drawn up to replace the coach house with a chapel. To make the most of the available space, the chapel was designed to be rectangular and perpendicular to the street.^[1]

Construction

The church was built from 1926 to 1927. It was built in Gothic Revival style.^[1] After it was finished it was blessed by the Archbishop of Toronto, Neil McNeil. On 27 March 1927, he dedicated the chapel to St. Thomas Aquinas.^[2] Because of its connection to the Newman Centre, it was known by students on campus as the Newman Chapel.^[1] From 1913 to 1936, the Newman Centre and chapel were served by the Paulist Fathers at St. Peter's Church, Toronto.^[3]

In 1995, the Archdiocese of Toronto made the chapel into a quasi-parish church.^[2]

Over time, renovations were made to the church. It was altered after the Second Vatican Council to conform to the promulgated liturgical changes.^[2]

In 1973, it was added to the Toronto Historical Board's inventory of historical buildings by the Ontario Heritage Trust.^[1]

From 1999 to 2000, a renovation was undertaken to install windows depicting prominent 20th-century Christians.^[2]

In 2014, the rook was renovated. It was the first time it had replaced in 88 years.^[4]

Interior

The church was built using Credit Valley and Indiana limestone.^[1] The roof is supported by arch braced trusses and beams made of dark stained British Columbia fir. It originally featured two windows near the entrance depicting the patrons of the church, Thomas Aquinas and John Henry Newman.^[2]

The windows installed in west wall of the church in 2000 show Edith Stein, Thérèse of Lisieux, Mother Teresa, Gianna Beretta Molla, Pier Giorgio Frassati, André Bessette, Franz Jägerstätter, Georges Vanier, Pauline Vanier, Pope John XXIII, Kateri Tekakwitha and Jerzy Popiełuszko.^[2]

Parish

The parish has two Sunday Masses every week, at 11:00am on Sunday morning and at 7:00pm on Sunday evening. It also holds daily Mass at 12:15pm from Monday to Friday.^[5]

See also

• Newman Centre, Toronto

References

External links

• Newman Centre site