Oxford Oratory

St. Aloysius Gonzaga ( engl. also briefly Oxford Oratory ) is a Roman Catholic parish in the English university town of Oxford. The neo-Gothic basilica was built in 1875 according to plans by Joseph Hansom as a Jesuit church and has the patronage of the Jesuit Saint Aloysius. 1990 was the Archbishop of Birmingham, the parish the Oratorians.

History

In the 1870s, the establishment of a Jesuit parish and church in the center of the historic town of Oxford was an effective public sign of the resurgence of Catholicism in England. Among the martyrs of oppression, many Jesuits had been. For the building and its equipment were found well-known major donors.

1981 had to give up their Oxford branch the Jesuits. The parish was initially led by diocesan priests, to members of the Birmingham Oratory they took over in 1990. 1993 became the new Convention, to Birmingham and London, the third in England, his independence. For the Community of John Henry Newman was also present in the city, had once taught in Newman and was gone the way of the Catholic Church. The Aloysius Gonzaga - Church has since become a center of the liturgy care.

Architecture and Facilities

The Aloysius Church is built of yellow brick. It follows the Basilica scheme, where the nave disproportionately wide and the aisles are narrow and jochweise divided. On the portal facade with large rose window a modest bell tower is attached.

The neo-Gothic colorful painting in the 1950s and 1970s, replaced by sleek, the spatial structure hugging white and gray version. All that remains are the many figures stained glass windows. Empire is the ornamented ceiling, above the pointed barrel vault. The highlight of the equipment is the apsidal altar screen. On both sides of the sacrament house like Tabernacle in the center contains a two-storey Fries 52 statues of holy men and women from the Bible and from the Roman and English church history. Furthermore, there is another series of Tondi with Saints heads.

The organ was built by the organ builder Matthew Copley ( Surbiton ) built in 2004. The instrument has 42 registers on three manuals and pedal. The works are divided between two locations: Swell and Great and Pedal are located opposite each other on the choir stand, the Choir factory is located on a newly constructed organ loft, above the pulpit. The play and Registertrakturen are electric. The pedal has three registers are vacant and ready for a later installation.

• Couplers: II / I, III / I, III / II, III / III ( Suboktavkoppel ), I / P, II / P III / P
• Note