The Cardiff Oratory

Introduction

The present grand church was built in 1911 under Rector Father Palmer, with Father Owen McCusker collecting money.

History

The Marquess of Bute provided the new Iron Church, opened on 30 November 1897. Father Bailey died on March 12th, 1898, having been a member of the Institute of Charity for 46 years. Bishop Hedley opened the new Saint Alban's on Sunday July 16th, 1911. The current building was completed in 1911 and over the years the interior and exterior has undergone some changes; the interior is sympathetically decorated by a group of parishioners.

Architecture and furnishings

The High Altar, gift of Lord Ninian Crichton-Stuart, is of Bath stone panelled with green Cippolino marble. The Lady Altar is a valuable piece of work by Pugin, from Saint Marie's, Rugby. The pulpit was given by the men of the Blast Furnace Dept., G.K.B. Cardiff Dowlais Works. The church has a tower containing eight tubular bells, and an octagonal tower at the south of the west entrance.

The church has a clerestory of fifteen lights over an arcade of five bays spaced by octagonal columns, with an exceptionally wide ambulatory. F.R. Bates of Newport designed the church in the purest perpendicular style, with walls of dressed blue pennant stone, Bath stone dressings, and a roof of green Llantilo slates. The large Crucifixion Set on the West Wall came from old Saint David's.

The church has a Third-Class Relic of the Holy Shroud of Turin in the Sacred Heart Chapel in the North Transept, an exact replica of the True Shroud. Above the high altar is a stained glass window depicting Saint Alban's martyrdom, and in the niche above the main doors a statue of Saint Alban shows him wearing the priest's robes he swapped with Amphibalus.

Music and liturgy

The Choral Clerks, a fully professional choir of 8 singers, sings at the Solemn Mass for Sundays and feast days. All sung Masses at the Oratory incorporate Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony, particularly music by composers such as Byrd, Palestrina, Victoria and Lassus. The Junior Chorale is a choir of 30 children between the ages of 7 and 11. The Oratory holds monthly Grande Organ Recitals featuring some of the country's top organists.

Parish life

The parish runs a men's group, the Knights of St Columba, and a women's group, Magnificat. The parish assists in missions in schools and parishes.

Since 2019, the Oratorians have the care of souls in the Parish of Saint Alban-on-the-Moors, Splott. The parish supports younger parishioners preparing for first Confession and first Holy Communion.

The Little Oratory is open to all Catholics over the age of 18. The Little Oratory is a fellowship of men and women who promote the spirituality of the Oratory amongst the laity.

Regular events

A Novena to Saint Alban is prayed annually from 11 to 19 June in preparation for the feast day. The great liturgies of Christmas, Holy Week and Easter attract packed-out congregations.