Chapel of Christ the King under construction, 1927
A longed-for dream.
The construction of our Chapel begins.
On 25 September 1927 the foundation stone of the Chapel of Christ the King was laid by Archbishop Daniel Mannix. The Archbishop returned on 12 May 1928 to celebrate the first Mass in the Chapel of Christ the King.
During Australia’s First Eucharistic Congress in Sydney, Loreto Toorak was honoured by a visit from the Papal Delegate, Cardinal Bonaventura Cerretti, from Italy. On the evening of 10 October 1928 the Cardinal blessed the convent and celebrated Mass in the new chapel, while the students staged A Joyous Pageant of Our Lord’s Nativity in the new St Cecilia’s Hall underneath. For this grand occasion the Sisters borrowed furniture, rugs and tables from the Finn family. On Sunday 24 October 1928 Archbishop Mannix officially consecrated the chapel to Christ the King. The altar rails were donated by the Loreto Past Pupils’ Association and the current students donated the holy water font. The students were also encouraged to buy one brick for ten shillings, and many responded to this appeal. One of Count Thomas O’Loughlin’s favourite activities was importing Italian marble altars for Australian churches. The marble altar and flooring of the sanctuary, as well as the tabernacle and the adoring angels on either side, were donated by him. In June 1929 the Sisters recorded that the chapel was fully paid for through the generosity of benefactors and the efforts of the pupils.
Round stained-glass windows of the Madonna and cherubs, which had graced the stairway landing at Albert Park, were reused in a new window for the apse at the chapel entry. It was a tangible link of the old with the new. For the consecration of the chapel in 1928 a choir of Sisters, under the expert tutelage of the Provincial, Mother Teresa Gertrude, filled the chapel with exquisite music. For this sacred occasion Mother Francis Frewin, who had come to Loreto Toorak in 1925, wrote a poem dedicated to Christ the King: ‘Oh come to all ye whose souls delight in high enterprise and chivalry, to Christ the King your fealty plight, whose Kingdom is Eternity.’ Her words were put to music by Mother Madeleine Lalor, an accomplished composer, and the hymn became firmly embedded in Loreto Toorak traditions. In what had become a custom, at the conclusion of the ceremonies Archbishop Mannix paid a fitting tribute. The Advocate reported:
The beautiful chapel was the first chapel in Australia to be dedicated to Christ the King. The Sisters had done splendid work since they took possession of Mandeville Hall and he had no doubt that they would continue to do so in the years to come. Any misgivings about the coming of the Loreto Sisters to Toorak had long since disappeared and the nuns had established themselves in the affections of the people and their pupils.
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Holy Thursday in the Oak Parlour Chapel,
Mandeville Hall, c.1925
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Children at play soon after the
completion of the Chapel, c.1928
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First Communion Group, 1932
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Consecration of the Children of Mary, 1940
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First Communicants, c.1960s
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Chapel following the 1972 renovations
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