St Mary Star of the Sea, West Melbourne

About

St Mary Star of the Sea is a Roman Catholic parish church in West Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The foundation stone of the church was laid in 1882 and the building was completed by 1900. Since 2002, restoration has been ongoing to restore the church to its original state. Built with seating for over 1,200 people, it has been described as the largest parish church in Melbourne, in Victoria, or even in Australia. The church was listed on the Victorian Heritage Register on 11 December 2008.

On 30 September 1852, only a few weeks after land allotments in North Melbourne became available, the Very Rev Patrick Geoghegan OSF, Melbourne 's first vicar general, secured 8,100 square metres (2 acres), on the highest point within the block formed by Victoria, William and Chetwynd streets. A foundation stone was laid two years later, on 14 May 1854, and within six months a modest cruciform stone church was erected. Melbourne's port lay in the church's shadow, and so the church was dedicated to Our Lady, Star of the Sea, patroness of seafarers. Priests from St Francis', Melbourne's proto-cathedral, served the mission.

The Victorian Gold Rush fuelled a population explosion which contributed to a rapidly increasing Catholic congregation. On 28 July 1862, the Rev Simon Riordan chaired a public meeting which resolved to erect an entirely new church to serve North and West Melbourne. A scarcity of funds forced an alternative: two additional transepts should be added to the existing building. Construction was delayed, however, by a good nine years. In 1871, a new transept increased the capacity of the church to 500.

Two years later, in 1873, St Mary Star of the Sea became a parish. The Rev Henry England, West Melbourne's long-standing locum priest, was appointed first parish priest. In 1875, Archbishop James Alipius Goold visited the parish and informed the priest and parishioners that the building was not adequate for divine worship. In response, a second transept was added and the interior renovated.

In 1881, plans for a new and larger church, by prolific architects Tappin, Gilbert and Dennehy, were announced. Archbishop Goold laid the foundation stone on 9 December 1883, but the death of Dean England, and a shortage of funds, halted construction. The Rev Patrick Joseph Aylward was appointed parish priest in 1889, and he immediately terminated the project. The proposed building was too small for the rapidly increasing Catholic population.

The foundations of the current church were laid in June 1892. A young and as yet unknown architect, Edgar J. Henderson, tendered plans for a grandiose sandstone cruciform in the French Gothic style. At 53 metres (175 ft) long and 29 metres (94 ft) wide, the proposed church was criticised by Archbishop Thomas Joseph Carr for being too large, but parishioners embraced the ambitious project. Within a year, however, economic depression had wrought havoc on the project's finance. Remarkably, in the face of devastating poverty, parishioners managed to fund ongoing construction, and church was built in eight years.

Phillip Kennedy took over Henderson's architectural role, and the contrast between the church's exterior and interior can be attributed to his influence. Henderson's rose windows, battered plinths, cylindrical turrets, and soaring groined timber ceiling exemplify the French Gothic Revival. Kennedy's glossy marble and granite pillars, intricate marble fittings, and pink tinted walls, however, betray an Italianate influence.

On 18 February 1900, Cardinal Patrick Francis Moran opened and blessed the new church to great fanfare before an assembly of 1,400. Local Catholic newspaper The Advocate remarked that "The congregation has literally emerged from the worst ecclesiastical building in the colony to enter one of the finest."

The church was finally completed in 1925. On 12 February, Archbishop Bartolomeo Cattaneo, the apostolic delegate, dedicated the new marble high altar and consecrated the completed church.

In its embryonic years, St Mary's was an overwhelming Irish Australian parish. In the years of the Gold Rush, however, a significant number of Chinese Australians also worshipped there.

The graves of many of St Mary's early parishioners still lie beneath the Queen Victoria Market a few hundred metres eastward.

Post war immigration to Australia transformed St Mary's congregation. Italian and Maltese Australians embellished popular devotion and worship. In more recent years Lithuanian and Vietnamese Australians have also contributed to the life of the parish.

Daniel Mannix, as coadjutor bishop to Archbishop Carr, resided at St Mary's and served as parish priest of West Melbourne from 1913 until 1917. While serving as parish priest he effectively led the campaign against Australians being conscripted to fight in the World War then raging overseas. Once archbishop he would reign as such to nearly the completion of his hundredth year. His own coadjutor, Justin Simonds, similarly resided there and served as parish priest for 21 years from 1942 to 1963. Upon Simonds' succession to the See of Melbourne in 1963, Melbourne auxiliary bishop Arthur Fox served as parish priest of West Melbourne until his appointment to the See of Sale in 1967.

In 2001, Archbishop George Pell entrusted the parish to the priests of Opus Dei, a personal prelature of the Catholic Church.

On 30 September 1852, only a few weeks after land allotments in North Melbourne became available, the Very Rev Patrick Geoghegan OSF, Melbourne 's first vicar general, secured 8,100 square metres (2 acres), on the highest point within the block formed by Victoria, William and Chetwynd streets. A foundation stone was laid two years later, on 14 May 1854, and within six months a modest cruciform stone church was erected. Melbourne's port lay in the church's shadow, and so the church was dedicated to Our Lady, Star of the Sea, patroness of seafarers. Priests from St Francis', Melbourne's proto-cathedral, served the mission.

The Victorian Gold Rush fuelled a population explosion which contributed to a rapidly increasing Catholic congregation. On 28 July 1862, the Rev Simon Riordan chaired a public meeting which resolved to erect an entirely new church to serve North and West Melbourne. A scarcity of funds forced an alternative: two additional transepts should be added to the existing building. Construction was delayed, however, by a good nine years. In 1871, a new transept increased the capacity of the church to 500.

Two years later, in 1873, St Mary Star of the Sea became a parish. The Rev Henry England, West Melbourne's long-standing locum priest, was appointed first parish priest. In 1875, Archbishop James Alipius Goold visited the parish and informed the priest and parishioners that the building was not adequate for divine worship. In response, a second transept was added and the interior renovated.

In 1881, plans for a new and larger church, by prolific architects Tappin, Gilbert and Dennehy, were announced. Archbishop Goold laid the foundation stone on 9 December 1883, but the death of Dean England, and a shortage of funds, halted construction. The Rev Patrick Joseph Aylward was appointed parish priest in 1889, and he immediately terminated the project. The proposed building was too small for the rapidly increasing Catholic population.

The foundations of the current church were laid in June 1892. A young and as yet unknown architect, Edgar J. Henderson, tendered plans for a grandiose sandstone cruciform in the French Gothic style. At 53 metres (175 ft) long and 29 metres (94 ft) wide, the proposed church was criticised by Archbishop Thomas Joseph Carr for being too large, but parishioners embraced the ambitious project. Within a year, however, economic depression had wrought havoc on the project's finance. Remarkably, in the face of devastating poverty, parishioners managed to fund ongoing construction, and church was built in eight years.

Phillip Kennedy took over Henderson's architectural role, and the contrast between the church's exterior and interior can be attributed to his influence. Henderson's rose windows, battered plinths, cylindrical turrets, and soaring groined timber ceiling exemplify the French Gothic Revival. Kennedy's glossy marble and granite pillars, intricate marble fittings, and pink tinted walls, however, betray an Italianate influence.