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Revision as of 18:09, 10 February 2020 by Pbritti (talk | contribs) (→History)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Church in Virginia, United States| Saint Bede Catholic Church | |
|---|---|
| Location | Williamsburg, Virginia |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Website | www |
| History | |
| Status | Active |
| Founded | 1932 |
| Founder(s) | Bishop Andrew Brennan |
| Dedication | St. Bede Our Lady of Walsingham |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Diocese of Richmond |
| Clergy | |
| Bishop(s) | Bishop Barry Knestout |
Saint Bede Catholic Church in Williamsburg, Virginia is a Roman Catholic parish in the Diocese of Richmond. The National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, located adjacent to the campus of the College of William and Mary, is a part of the parish.
History
The first Catholics in the Virginia Peninsula were two Dominican friars, accompanied by 37 Spanish and Portuguese troops and guided by a converted Algonquian, in August 1566. Ten Spanish Jesuits founded St. Mary's Mission, known more commonly as the Ajacán Mission, in 1570. On posited location for where they disembarked is present-day College Creek. The entire encampment of Spanish missionaries and Native American converts was massacred by Powhatans in 1571 with the exception of a single convert boy, who was rescued by Spanish forces from Florida the next year.
In September 1923, Mexican immigrant and professor Carlos Eduardo Castañeda arrived at the College of William and Mary to teach Spanish. As the faculty leader of the Gibbons Club, formed on 11 December 1923, he and thirty students agitated for a priest from Newport News to come to Williamsburg in order to fulfill their Sunday Mass obligations. In 1929, $25,000 was given by Margaret Burns to the Diocese of Richmond for "mission churches in Virginia," with the money going towards two lots purchased with the support of College President J. A. C. Chandler.
In 1932, the Catholic College Chapel was constructed to meet the growing needs needs of the Catholic students and staff at the College. The chapel was dedicated to Benedictine monk St. Bede the Venerable in October 1932. In 1939, the chapel was dedicated as a parish. On 1 February 1942, the first pastor of St. Bede Fr. Thomas Walsh dedicated the parish to Our Lady of Walsingham. The church was blessed in 1942.
The parish purchased a building originally constructed as a fraternity home adjacent to the original location of Saint Bede, 601 College Terrace, for use as housing by the USO. On 16 September 1947, the Sisters of Mercy opened Walsingham Academy, a private Catholic school, in this building. After the school's move, the building served as a rectory and is now a privately-owned home.
Parish
The present location of the Saint Bede parish church is composed of a primary church and three wings, two above ground and one beneath the courtyard. The wings were a 37,000 foot addition for the purpose of providing space for fellowship and community events.
Ministries and services
There are over 60 ministries, social groups, and organizations that operate in or with the support of the Saint Bede parish, including:
- Knights of Columbus
- Legion of Mary
- Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts Troops 1932
- HOPE Pregnancy Resource Center
- Ancient Order of Hibernians
- Spanish- and English-language catechesis
National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham
Fr. Walsh was appointed the first pastor of Saint Bede and the College Chapel in 1939. With the 2 February 1942–Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple–dedication of the Saint Bede parish to Our Lady of Walsingham, Fr. Walsh commissioned a statue depicting the Marian apparition done in the same style of that present at the Slipper Chapel, itself based on that from the Walsingham Priory. The dedication of Saint Bede church to Our Lady of Walsingham is possibly attributable to Fr. Walsh's personal devotion to the apparition and visit to Europe in 1934 and possible pilgrimage to Walsingham that year.
Campus ministry
The Gibbons Club was founded in 1923, later renamed the Newman Club after the establishment of the parish. Alongside their Episcopalian equivalent, Canterbury, the CSA signed a covenant committing both organizations to ecumenical actions in the Wren chapel on 24 January 1977.
References
- ^ "Our Parish History". bedeva.org. Saint Bede Catholic Church. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- Erickson, Mark (8 May 2013). "A lost Spanish mission on the York River". dailypress.org. Daily Press. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- "The Virginia Martyrs". nationalwalsinghamshrine.org. National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- "Colonial Period: Ajacan, The Spanish Jesuit Mission". marinersmuseum.org. Mariners Museum. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- ^ Spike, Michèle (2018). The Holy House: A History of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham Williamsburg, Virginia. Legion of Mary. p. 38.
- ^ "History". nationalwalsinghamshrine.org. National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- "History". walsingham.org. Walsingham Academy. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- "Saint Bede Catholic Church". GuernseyTingle. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
- "Parish Life Groups and Apostolates". bedeva.org. Saint Bede Catholic Church. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- Spike, 40.
- "Gibbons Club". Special Collections Research Center Wiki. William & Mary Libraries. Retrieved 6 February 2020.