Church of St. Mary Magdalene (Toronto)
| Church of St. Mary Magdalene | ||
|---|---|---|
Style Gothic Revival | | |
| Groundbreaking | 1888 | |
| Completed | 1908 | |
| Administration | ||
| Province | Ontario | |
| Diocese | Toronto | |
| Deanery | Parkdale | |
| Parish | St. Mary Magdalene | |
| Clergy | ||
| Priest in charge | Eric Beresford | |
| Honorary priest(s) | William Cruse, Theo Ipema, John Whittall | |
| Curate(s) | Jake Cunliffe | |
| Laity | ||
| Organist/Director of music | David Simon | |
The Church of St. Mary Magdalene (also known as SMM) is a parish of the Anglican Church of Canada located in Toronto. It is named for Jesus' companion, Mary Magdalene, and is famous for its association with composer Healey Willan, who was organist and choirmaster for over four decades. The church was built in 1888.
Theology
SMM is an
In 1966, the church became one of the first Anglican churches in Canada whose priests gave the Solemn Mass facing the congregation,[3] as became common among Catholics following the Second Vatican Council.
"In 1967 the Rev'd Mountain "Monty" Hutt became rector ... [and] organized the first outdoor procession of the Blessed Sacrament in 1974."[3]
Rev Hutt was the brother of William Hutt, an actor in the Stratford Festival who also toured nationally and internationally.[4]
Founding and development
The church was founded in 1888 by a group from the nearby
The original building was completed in 1908, with a choir loft added in the 1920s. In 1993, renovations added spaces for instruction, meeting, and church administration. In 2008, another renovation to the liturgical space opened up windows that had been closed in the 1920s.
SMM has a collection of
Music
SMM is known for excellence in sacred music. In 1940, Robertson Davies reported in the magazine Saturday Night that there were only two things worth doing in Toronto, seeing the Chinese Collection at the Royal Ontario Museum and listening to St. Mary Magdalene's choirs. This owed much to the work of Healey Willan who came to the parish in 1921 and remained as the organist and choirmaster until shortly before his death in 1968. Willan composed music for the church’s liturgies and performance elsewhere that have lasting use and influence. He was at one time best known internationally as the only composer outside England who was asked for and provided music for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.[5] He was also an accomplished organist famous for his improvisational skill. He once remarked, "You have a sense of home, absolute completion... doing the work you want to do and the work you feel you can do."[6]
The musical services of
Variety of worship
The parish celebrates contemporary language liturgies based on the Canadian Book of Alternative Services. SMM was involved in the development of the "reordered" 1962 Eucharistic Rite contained in the BAS. For some time the parish had experimented by literally cutting and pasting pages of the Canadian Book of Common Prayer into the Anglican Missal. The resulting "reordered rite" combined the sequence of Roman usage, Canadian BCP prayers, and supplemental liturgical material (e.g. minor propers) from more ancient sources.
Cultural references
SMM was part of the composite that Robertson Davies used to form "St. Aidan's" in his novel The Cunning Man. Davies attended Mass there while he was a Presbyterian student at Upper Canada College.[7] The church is also mentioned in Marian Engel's "The Glassy Sea."
Notable people
On 3 July 1989, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother visited the church, participated in the Solemn Mass, and unveiled a national historic plaque to the memory of Healey Willan.[3]
The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, former Governor General of Canada is a parishioner of the parish .[1]
See also
References
- ISBN 0-9694346-1-8.
- ISBN 0-8020-8136-3.
- ^ a b c "Parish History". www.stmarymagdalene.ca. The Church of St Mary Magdalene. 2013. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
- ^ Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia. Hutt, William. Athabasca University. Retrieved on: May 14, 2008.
- ISBN 978-1-55002-360-2.
- ^ "Biography of Healey Willan". Healey Willan Society. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ Skelton-Grant, Judith. Robertson Davies: Man of Myth.
External links
| Authority control databases: Geographic |
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