Saint Bede Catholic Church (Williamsburg, Virginia) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Saint Bede Catholic Church |
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New church of Saint Bede parish in 2020
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| 37°15′44″N 76°45′21″W / 37.262107°N 76.755738°W | |
| Location | Williamsburg, Virginia |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| History | |
| Status | Active |
| Founded | 1932 |
| Founder(s) | Bishop Andrew Brennan |
| Dedication | St. Bede Our Lady of Walsingham |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | 2003 church: Tom Kerns, Sean Riley |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Diocese of Richmond |
Saint Bede Catholic Church is a Catholic church located in James City County and Williamsburg, Virginia. It is a Catholic parish within the Diocese of Richmond. The National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham is also part of this parish and is located next to the College of William & Mary. Saint Bede was the very first Catholic church in Williamsburg.
Contents
History of Saint Bede Catholic Church
Early Catholic Faith in the Virginia Area
The first known Catholics in the Virginia Peninsula were two Dominican friars. They arrived in August 1566 with 37 Spanish and Portuguese soldiers. They were guided by a Native American who had converted to Christianity.
Forty years before, in 1526, a short-lived colony called San Miguel de Gualdape was set up nearby. It also had Catholic followers, but its exact location is not known today.
In 1570, ten Spanish Jesuits (a group of Catholic priests) started St. Mary's Mission, also known as the Ajacán Mission. One idea is that they landed near what is now College Creek. Sadly, in 1571, most of the Spanish missionaries and Native American converts were attacked by members of the Powhatan people. Only one convert boy survived and was later rescued.
The Jamestown colony, the first successful English settlement in America, was founded in 1607. At that time, practicing Catholicism was not allowed in English colonies due to the English Reformation. Catholics were also not permitted to hold military or government jobs.
However, discoveries made by archeological teams in 2013 at Jamestown show that some people secretly continued to practice Catholicism. For example, a silver reliquary (a container for holy relics) was found in the coffin of Captain Gabriel Archer.
How Saint Bede Parish Began
In September 1923, a professor named Carlos Eduardo Castañeda came to the College of William and Mary to teach Spanish. He was a Mexican immigrant and a Catholic.
Professor Castañeda led a group of students called the Gibbons Club, which started in December 1923. They wanted a priest from Newport News to come to Williamsburg so they could attend Sunday Mass.
In 1929, a donation of $25,000 was given to the Diocese of Richmond to help build "mission churches" in Virginia. This money helped buy two pieces of land for the church.
In 1932, the Catholic College Chapel was built to serve the growing number of Catholic students and staff at the College. In October 1932, the chapel was dedicated to Benedictine monk St. Bede the Venerable.
In 1939, the chapel became a full parish. On February 1, 1942, Saint Bede's first pastor, Father Thomas Walsh, dedicated the parish to Our Lady of Walsingham. The church was officially blessed in 1942.
The parish bought a building at 601 College Terrace. It was originally a fraternity house. This building was used by the USO (United Service Organizations), providing a place for thousands of soldiers and their families to stay during that time.
On September 16, 1947, the Sisters of Mercy opened Walsingham Academy, a private Catholic school, in this building. After the school moved to a new location, the building became a rectory (where priests live). Today, it is a privately owned home.
In 2003, the parish opened a new, larger church off Ironbound Road in Williamsburg. This new building became the main Saint Bede Catholic Church. However, the National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham remained part of the parish and is still managed by it.
In early 2020, an event for the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia was planned to take place at Saint Bede. However, to avoid causing any problems or upset within the Saint Bede community, the event was moved to a different church in Williamsburg.
Saint Bede Parish Church Building
The current Saint Bede parish church has a main church building and three wings. Two wings are above ground, and one is below the courtyard. These wings were added in 2016 to create more space for community events and gatherings. They also hold the parish offices.
The church has a large pipe organ called Opus 31, which was finished in 2005. It was later renamed in honor of a former pastor, Monsignor William H. Carr. The main organ is about 32 feet (9.75 meters) tall and has 183 keys. It has 54 ranks and 43 stops, including special trumpets.
In 2019, two beautiful mosaics were added to the church, placed on either side of the organ. These mosaics were made in Italy by Ferrari & Bacci. They show the communion of saints, which means all the saints in heaven. There are plans to add more art to the 32 other panels around the church. These mosaics are made of Venetian glass by an Italian company called Barsanti. They are based on paintings by Ramiro Sanchez, an artist whose work has been shown at the nearby Muscarelle Museum of Art.
Groups and Activities at Saint Bede
Saint Bede parish supports over 60 different groups and organizations. These groups offer various activities and services for the community. Some of them include:
- Knights of Columbus: A Catholic fraternal service organization.
- Legion of Mary: A group for Catholic lay people who want to serve the church.
- Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts Troops 1932: Youth programs focused on character building and outdoor skills.
- Hope Pregnancy Resource Center: A center that helps pregnant women and new mothers.
- Ancient Order of Hibernians: An Irish Catholic fraternal organization.
- Spanish- and English-language catechesis: Classes for learning about the Catholic faith.
- House of Mercy: A service that helps people who are homeless or struggling financially. It operates in a building next to the Shrine.
National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham
When Father Walsh became the first pastor of Saint Bede in 1939, he dedicated the parish to Our Lady of Walsingham on February 2, 1942. He then asked for a statue to be made that looked like the one at the Slipper Chapel in England. This statue was based on an older one from the Walsingham Priory. Father Walsh's personal devotion to Our Lady of Walsingham, possibly from a visit to Walsingham in 1934, might be why he chose this dedication.
In 2016, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops officially recognized the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham as the first national shrine in the Diocese of Richmond. A national shrine is a church or other sacred place that has been recognized by the bishops of a country as a special place of pilgrimage or devotion.
The Williamsburg House of Mercy, which helps people in the community, is located on the Shrine's campus. It used to be called the Saint Bede Outreach Center. Its history goes back to the 1960s when Sister Berenice Eltz, a nun, left her teaching job to work in social ministry at Saint Bede parish. She was sometimes called "the Mother Teresa of Williamsburg" because of her service. From 2018 to 2020, the House of Mercy was updated to help more people in the Williamsburg community with meals and housing. The Catholic Student Center is on the bottom floor of the same building.
Since the new church on Ironbound Road opened, the Shrine building has sometimes been called "Old Saint Bede" or "CCM Chapel." This is because the Catholic Campus Ministry (CCM) uses it. The Shrine building has been renovated several times to make it bigger and to meet modern accessibility standards. In February 2020, the Shrine building closed for more renovations. However, the House of Mercy building next door continued to host Mass until the COVID-19 pandemic caused public Masses to be cancelled. The renovations were finished in the summer of 2020, and the Shrine fully reopened when COVID rules were lifted.
Every year on September 24, for the Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham, people from Saint Bede and the Episcopal Bruton Parish join together. They have a rosary procession carrying the Marian statue from Colonial Williamsburg to the Shrine. At the Shrine, they have ecumenical vespers, which are evening prayers shared by different Christian groups.
Campus Ministry for Students
In 1865, there was only one Catholic student reported at the College of William & Mary. By 1939, 114 Catholics attended the College or lived nearby. As of 2019, about 225 students attend Sunday Mass at the Shrine. Around 25 students attend daily Masses there or in the Wren chapel.
The Gibbons Club was started in 1923. It was later renamed the Newman Club and then the Catholic Student Association. In 1977, the Catholic Student Association and the Episcopalian group, Canterbury, signed an agreement to work together. In the 1990s, the student ministry focused more on student leadership. It also got its first lay campus minister (a non-priest who helps with ministry). The student ministry was renamed again to its current name, Catholic Campus Ministry, to match other campus ministries in the Diocese of Richmond. The Catholic Student Center, located next to the Shrine, is sometimes called the "Catacombs" or "Cats" by students.
