Holy Rosary Church (Toronto)
{{Infobox church
| denomination = Roman Catholic
| name = Holy Rosary Church
| image = Holy Rosary, Toronto.JPG
| coordinates = {{coords|43.684497|-79.413898|region:CA-ON|display=inline,title}}
| location = 354 St. Clair Avenue West
Toronto, Ontario
| website = {{URL|holyrosary.ca/}}
| dedication = Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary
| architect = Arthur William Holmes
| style = Gothic Revival
| years built = 1926–1927
| archdiocese = Toronto
| pastor = The Rev. Fr. Peter Turrone
| deacon =
}}
File:Holy Rosary Church Interior - Toronto, ON.jpg
Holy Rosary Church is a Roman Catholic church in Forest Hill, Toronto, Ontario.
History
In 1882, Basilian Fr. Lawrence Brennan, parish priest of St. Basil's Church, purchased 50-acres of what was then remote farmland on St. Clair Avenue West. The land was intended to be a farm for St. Michael's College and Fr. Brennan constructed a novitiate to train priests. On May 8, 1892, the cornerstone was laid for the novitiate and a chapel to serve as a parish church for the Irish population in the area.{{cite web |title=Parish History |url=https://holyrosary.ca/parish-info/parish-history/ |website=Holy Rosary Church |access-date=July 13, 2022}}{{cite web |title=Holy Rosary Parish Toronto |url=https://www.acotoronto.ca/building.php?ID=10015 |website=Architectural Conservancy Ontario |access-date=July 13, 2022}} The parish was established in 1909.{{cite web |title=Holy Rosary Church |url=https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2008/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-9453.pdf |website=City of Toronto |access-date=July 13, 2022}}
The parish grew rapidly and in 1924 Fr. Michael Oliver was appointed priest and instructed to oversee the construction of a new church. Archbishop Neil McNeil laid the cornerstone for the new church on May 30, 1926. Fr. Oliver admired English Gothic churches and modeled the new Holy Rosary Church after St. Mary's Church in St. Neots, Huntingdonshire. The church was designed by prominent Toronto-based Catholic architect Arthur William Holmes.{{cite web |title=Holmes, Arthur William |url=http://dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/node/264 |website=Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada |access-date=July 13, 2022}} Construction cost $150,000. The new church was blessed and opened on May 8, 1927.
The first stained glass windows were dedicated in 1928 in memory of John Franklin Brown Jr., a parishioner who died in the First World War. Another memorial window was dedicated in 1945.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{URL|holyrosary.ca/|Holy Rosary Church website}}
Category:Roman Catholic churches in Toronto
Category:20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Canada
Category:Roman Catholic churches completed in 1927