The church's website (visit link) gives an
excellent descriptive tour of the church:
"Be still... and let your eyes and ears and feelings
join your heart and your spirit to experience the peace and beauty of this
place. So much love and skill have gone into this holy place. And so many
thousands of people over the past 130 years have been the “community of faith”
in this Catholic church... dedicated to the hearts of Jesus and Mary, and later
to Our Lady of Sorrows.
The church was set back from the road, built in the
garden of the Servite Friars who came to England in 1864 and started this
building in 1874, led by Fr Philip Bosio OSM, with J A Hansom as architect.
Hansom also designed the tower and priory frontage on Fulham Road (1879-80). The
church was opened by Cardinal Manning on 19 September 1875.
Tower
You came in through the colonnade passage, unique in
English churches (Hansom again, 1894). A major renovation took place in
2006-2007. It really softens the spirit as you step into God's house from the
busy highway. Did you notice the Annunciation window by the front door?
Stupendous Fulham glass in a Burns Jones style – the Annunciation is opening
mystery: welcome into the Christ-story!
Annunciation window
Inside the church, you are in the narthex, a forest of
columns. More than just a foyer! Move around. Notice the bronzes of the Redeemer
and St. Peter (1872 by Mayer), the Virgin and Child... notice St. Antony for the
poor, St. Theresa the Little Flower, and her patron The Holy Face (after Lorenzo
di Credi, Shirley Fox 1895). Notice especially J. M. Swynnerton's Pietà (1896),
exquisite and moving shrine where so many find consolation. Notice, too, the
Baptistery, constructed in marble, bronze and alabaster in 1925 – full of bronze
symbols of Passover and Resurrection. Go inside: it's like entering the
Jesus-Tomb, from which the newly-baptised come out into the
God-life.
Pieta
Going round the church from the right, there is the
Calvary Altar (1895, J S Hansom, the son), carved into fine alabaster and
precious agate-onyx. These altars were used for Mass once, but are now lovely
shrines of devotion. Then there is St. Joseph’s altar, with fine wood statue by
former Servite Antonio Bulletti, and paintings by Guido Guidi. The next bay
contains a modern shrine for Servite St. Peregrine, patron of cancer sufferers,
with a fine embroidery of the saint who was close to Christ on the cross. There
follows the Seven Founders shrine painted by Servite Fr. Simoni OSM, with a
recent wooden statue of St Antony Pucci, parish priest of Viareggio in the
1890s, canonised in 1962.
Have you begun to look over your head? The windows are
altogether special, too many to describe, but all with a story to tell. You
should notice especially the 12 apostles around the highest part of the church
nave. Many other saints are all around the church, reminding us that it is a
people's place, consecrated by the holiness of God's people.
At the front, on the right, is the Seven Founders'
Chapel, formerly the Holy Family chapel. This contains wall-paintings by Fr.
Simoni OSM from the 1890s, and a painted wooden reredos of the Founders by Guido
Guidi from Rome. The wooden statues of the Founders came from the former Servite
church in Bognor Regis. Linking this chapel to the main altar-sanctuary is one
of J A Hansom's delightful foibles, a strainer transverse arch like the great
arch in Wells Cathedral. And above is the choir gallery, containing the renowned
organ by Henry Jones, built by Grant, Degens and Bradbeer in
1968.
Pause now at the altar-sanctuary with its fine alabaster
altar. Behind it was an enormous Caen stone reredos by George Porter of Chelsea,
removed in 1976 to have the altar facing the people. Now the oak-choir stalls
are visible, used each day by the friars. At the centre is a crucifix from
Begbroke Priory, Oxford made in the 1970s by artist Rosamund Fletcher, with a
painting of the Burial of Christ above. And above you can see the glorious
windows. In the centre, introduced by the Annunciation rose at the top, is the
Crucifixion window from 1877, with the Sorrows of Mary all around. To the right,
the Feeding of the Five Thousand, and to the left the Last Supper – Eucharistic
themes, coupled with images of the Nativity and the Coronation of the Virgin
Mary. These are Clayton and Bell windows by local artist W. Tipping of Edith
Grove.
Annunciation rose
At this point, turn around and see the window at the
back of the church. This west window was done in 1888 for the Canonisation of
the Servite Seven Founders, and it is a Te Deum window of praise, showing the
Trinity, the Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs and all saints, including Servite
saints and English saints George, Augustine, John Fisher, Thomas More, with 6
later lancets of the Seven Founders beneath.
To the left of the altar-sanctuary is the Blessed
Sacrament and Lady Chapel. It was added to the church by J S Hansom in 1890. It
is a most precious and beautiful place, with Caen stone sculpture, marbles and
alabaster. The altar sculpture shows the Seven Sorrows of Mary, as well as her
statue of desolation with the swords of sorrow. The chapel contains the church's
original Tabernacle of the Blessed Sacrament by Hardman.
Lady chapel
Coming back along the north aisle of the church, we pass
the confessional room, to find the Sacred Heart altar from 1889, Caen stone with
marble column. Then there is the shrine for St Mary Magdalen from 1895, made by
sculptor Swynnerton in Serravezza marble with Siena and Carrara marble
surrounds. The next is St Philip Benizi's altar with tributes also to Servite
saints Peregrine and Juliana. Don't miss the windows above these shrines, with
many other holy people to remember. Around the church you may look out for St.
Margaret of Scotland, St. Charles Borromeo (patron for the generous benefactor
of this church Charles Robertson KSG), St. Gregory the Great, St. Thomas
Aquinas…
We remember, however, that God's Church is built of
“living stones.” It is the gathering place of God's people – so many, of all
kinds and origins – forming the one, living Temple of the Holy Spirit! Through
the Spirit, Our Lady of Sorrows keeps us together as a community of faith in
Jesus Christ."
The church is Grade II listed and the brief entry at the
English Heritage website (visit
link) tells us:
"Roman Catholic Church. 1876. J A Hansom. Brick with
some marble decoration. Early English Gothic style. Set back from road and
reached by long passage. Aisled, clerestory, narthex."
The church's website (visit link) also lists the
times of services:
"Mass Times
Sunday Mass
Saturday Vigil:
6.30 pm
Sunday: 8:30 am,10.00 am, 11.15 am (Spanish), 12:15 pm, 7.00
pm
Weekdays
Monday to Friday: 10.00 am and 6:30
pm
Saturdays
Saturday: 10.00 am
Holy Days of
Obligation:
Vigil: 6.30 pm
Holy Day: 10.00 am and 6:30 pm
Any
changes to the weekday services will appear in the Parish Newsletter
Times of Other Services
Sacrament of
Reconciliation (Confession): Monday to Friday 6.15 pm, Saturday 10.45 am &
6.00 pm
Daily Prayer: Monday to Friday 8.00 am and 6.00 pm,
Saturday 9.30 am
Blessed Sacrament Adoration:
Monday,Tuesday,Thursday,Friday 10.30 am
Rosary: Wednesday 10.30 am
St Peregrine Mass of Healing: Last Wednesday of each
month at 6.30 pm"