The Rector writes ...   

Maria Gabriella Sagheddu was born on the island of Sardinia in 1914: though brought up in a Catholic atmosphere, she had no great desire for God until, at the age of eighteen, the death of a sister brought her a moment of conversion: life was literally turned around, and Maria began an intense life of prayer which led her to enter the Cistercian monastery at Grottoferrata just south of Rome in 1935. Around that time – mainly inspired by the efforts of Abbe Paul Couturier – religious houses throughout Europe were inspired with a new impetus to pray for the unity of Christians, and the community at Grottoferrata offered a novena for that intention. Sister Maria Gabriella felt called to offer her life for the cause of Christian unity and asked permission of her superiors to do so: on the very night that permission was granted, the young Cistercian (who until this moment had been vitally healthy) felt the first pains which indicated the onset of the tuberculosis from which she would die just eighteen months later. We hear much today about spiritual ecumenism – and here is an example of what his can mean. It is right that theologians and church leaders should talk and study together to find common ground and understand the history of our disunity, but all this effort is as nothing without praying hearts that really share the pain of Christ in his fractured Body.

The Cistercian community of which Blessed Maria Gabriella (so designated by Pope John Paul in 1983) was a member had forged strong links with a number of Anglican Benedictine houses in England, and this enclosed nun from Sardinia, who in all probability never met a Christian from another tradition, consecrated her life in a very definite way to draw Anglicans into the full unity of the Church. Perhaps the recent establishment of the Ordinariate of our Lady of Walsingham for former Anglicans is, at least in part, due to Blessed Maria Gabriella’s intercession – it must certainly have rejoiced her heart to see the four hundred people who were here in Spanish Place last weekend to celebrate Solemn Evensong arranged by local members of the Ordinariate.

As Roman Catholics, during this annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (18th-24th January), we do have particular insights to offer. On the one hand, an older model of re-union (a sort of ecclesial federation based on an extended European Community model – famously satirised by Monsignor Ronald Knox) seems less and less viable, while our vision remains that of the Catechism when it says: “all are called to this Catholic unity of the People of God, and to it in different ways, belong, or are ordered, the Catholic faithful, others who believe in Christ and finally all mankind, called by God’s grace to salvation”.  Our understanding is that: “this Church constituted and organised as a society in the present world, subsists in the Catholic Church which is governed by the Successor of St Peter and by the bishops in communion with him”: If we sincerely believe that the fullness of Christianity "subsists" (is to be found existing) and the means to salvation – orthodox belief, nurtured by the sacraments, expressed in a life of charity – are offered  in a unique way within Catholic communion, then (and this in no way, denies their existence, to varying degrees, in other expressions of the Christian tradition) to borrow some words of Cardinal Herbert Vaughan: “of course we desire to convert all – especially our own countrymen – to the Catholic religion. Could it be otherwise?”

                                                                          Christopher Colven

Our Church


Our Church is right in the heart of London. It is a spiritual oasis to many people who come in for silent prayers and personal devotion. It serves the deep needs of those who desire to get away from the hurly burly of city life. On the other hand, the various parish liturgical services reflect the richness of catholic traditions and its pastoral orientation caters for all categories of people especially the young and those searching for truth.
The location of the church is not actually in Spanish Place as its predecessor used to be, but in George Street, almost at the corner of George Street and Marylebone High Street. Nearest Subway or Underground stations are Baker Street and Bond Street. For directions click here.