Beauty Returns to London's West End
This Sunday 12th February sees the unveiling of the restored sanctuary At Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane. After the Protestant Reformation, this 'hidden gem' in London's West End was the first Catholic Church in the country to be dedicated with the title Corpus Christi. It was built in reparation for all the sins committed against the Blessed Sacrament in the 16th century and since. Corpus Christi was opened by Cardinal Manning on the 20th October 1874 with the intention that it would stand as a statement of what the Catholic Church believes about the Mass, i.e. the confection of the Real Presence of the Body and Blood of the Lord, and as “a sanctuary created specifically for the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament” . (Words of Cardinal Manning, from his homily at the opening of the church). After a long period of neglect, exacerbated by considerable pollution in Central London, and clumsy attempts to clean the internal fabric by sandblasting, the interior walls and sto...