About us
The Parish of the Holy Name of Mary is a parish of the Archdiocese of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The locality of parish is within the Municipality of Hunters Hill. To the north, east and south, it is bounded by the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers; to the west by Wharf Rd, Batemans Rd, Mars St, Wallace Ave, and Blaxland St.
Hunters Hill was originally part of the parish of Ryde, established in the early 1850s. In 1856 the parish of Ryde was entrusted to the care of the Marist Fathers, a French missionary cong
regation whose members had first come to Hunters Hill in 1847. In 1890 the parish was divided, with the Marists retaining the east, comprising Hunters Hill, Woolwich and Gladesville.
The parish community is a vital Christian community with its life centred on the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist. The vision of the parish is to be a community that is:
There are two centres of worship in Hunters Hill, the church of the Holy Name of Mary (often referred to as Villa Maria), 1 Mary St, Hunters Hill, and the church of St Peter Chanel, Futuna St, Hunters Hill on the Woolwich Peninsula. It is here that the community gathers for the central act of worship, the Eucharist, and for the celebration of the other sacraments, as well as for personal prayer. Being impressive sandstone heritage buildings, the churches are also popular for Catholic weddings.
The Holy Name of Mary Church is the heart and focus of the Hunters Hill Catholic community. The church was originally designed to be the chapel of the adjacent Villa Maria Monastery. The foundation stone was blessed by the Archbishop of Sydney and laid on 15 September, 1867. The church was a long time in the building. The first wedding took place in 1868 when the church still had no roof. Finally, it was formally blessed and opened by the Marist missionary Bishop Louis Elloy on 12 February 1871.
The church is unique in Australia in its design and decoration. A common practice in those days was to use building plans borrowed from elsewhere. The Marists brought in plans from their place of origin, the rural areas around Lyon in South-East France. The stained glass and statuary are also French, as too is the beautiful marble altar which was installed in 1890. The altar was moved from the eastern wall, separated from its reredos and the tabernacle, and adapted to stand free in the centre of the sanctuary during the adaptations to the liturgy of the Second Vatican Council in 1971.
In the early years of the twentieth century, the church, now the parish church, proved inadequate for the accommodation of the growing number of parishioners. As a memorial to the late Parish Priest, Fr Zephirin Muraire, who had served in the parish for 39 years, two new bays were added to the nave of the church. The front of the church was dismantled, and after the extension was completed, reassembled with a new bell and tower. The additions were blessed and opened by the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal Moran, in April 1904.
To coincide with the centenary of its opening, and to meet the requirements of the liturgical reforms after the Second Vatican Council, restoration work was carried out in 1971. The interior was sympathetically and painstakingly renovated to highlight the rich warmth of the cedar woodwork and the stained glass, together with the church’s many statues and the marble altar. The quaint little pulpit was also carefully preserved.
Further restoration work was carried out in 2003 as well as conservation work on the outside associated with addressing the perpetual problem of rising damp.
Saint Peter Chanel’s Church is dedicated to the Marist missionary and first martyr of Oceania, who was murdered on the island of Futuna in 1841. The church, as it stands today, was built in two stages, and remains unfinished.
On 26 October, 1890, the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal Moran, blessed the foundation stone for the construction of the first section of the church. The new church at the east end of the parish was intended to provide for Catholics of Woolwich village, some of whom were wealthy, although the greater number were servants and tradesmen who were otherwise faced with an hour’s walk to Villa Maria monastery.
A little more than two years later the Marist Fathers and their parishioners gathered to open their new church on 11 December, 1892. It was a church without a body. The architects had designed a sandstone gothic building of quite impressive proportions in the form of a Latin cross. However, a decision was made to complete the church in stages, and it was the first section, consisting of what is now the sacristy and the sanctuary that was used for seven years.
The second stage was opened on 2 June, 1901. This represented a substantial modification of the original plan, with shortened transcepts, the abandonment of a second sacristy to the north of the sanctuary, and a greatly reduced nave. The incompleteness of the building is still obvious in the external walls of the church. So as not to rule out a lengthening at some future date, the front façade of the church is completed in plaster rather than in stone. A similar accommodation is evident on the north wall of the sanctuary.
In the early 1970s and again in 1988 work was carried out to the interior of the church to accommodate the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council. In 2003 substantial work was carried out on the main entrance to the church to enable ease of access and a gathering space overlooking the Lane Cove river.
The church is valued for its simplicity of lines, its intimate interior, its unsophisticated surrounds, and its commanding position above the Lane Cove river.
The parish has one primary school, "Villa Maria". Within the boundaries there is the Marist Sisters College, a systemic secondary school for girls.
Hunters Hill was originally part of the parish of Ryde, established in the early 1850s. In 1856 the parish of Ryde was entrusted to the care of the Marist Fathers, a French missionary cong
regation whose members had first come to Hunters Hill in 1847. In 1890 the parish was divided, with the Marists retaining the east, comprising Hunters Hill, Woolwich and Gladesville.
The parish community is a vital Christian community with its life centred on the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist. The vision of the parish is to be a community that is:
- prayerful and worshipping
- inclusive and welcoming
- mutually responsible and caring
- faith-informed
- ecumenical
- outreaching and missionary.
There are two centres of worship in Hunters Hill, the church of the Holy Name of Mary (often referred to as Villa Maria), 1 Mary St, Hunters Hill, and the church of St Peter Chanel, Futuna St, Hunters Hill on the Woolwich Peninsula. It is here that the community gathers for the central act of worship, the Eucharist, and for the celebration of the other sacraments, as well as for personal prayer. Being impressive sandstone heritage buildings, the churches are also popular for Catholic weddings.
The Holy Name of Mary Church is the heart and focus of the Hunters Hill Catholic community. The church was originally designed to be the chapel of the adjacent Villa Maria Monastery. The foundation stone was blessed by the Archbishop of Sydney and laid on 15 September, 1867. The church was a long time in the building. The first wedding took place in 1868 when the church still had no roof. Finally, it was formally blessed and opened by the Marist missionary Bishop Louis Elloy on 12 February 1871.
The church is unique in Australia in its design and decoration. A common practice in those days was to use building plans borrowed from elsewhere. The Marists brought in plans from their place of origin, the rural areas around Lyon in South-East France. The stained glass and statuary are also French, as too is the beautiful marble altar which was installed in 1890. The altar was moved from the eastern wall, separated from its reredos and the tabernacle, and adapted to stand free in the centre of the sanctuary during the adaptations to the liturgy of the Second Vatican Council in 1971.
In the early years of the twentieth century, the church, now the parish church, proved inadequate for the accommodation of the growing number of parishioners. As a memorial to the late Parish Priest, Fr Zephirin Muraire, who had served in the parish for 39 years, two new bays were added to the nave of the church. The front of the church was dismantled, and after the extension was completed, reassembled with a new bell and tower. The additions were blessed and opened by the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal Moran, in April 1904.
To coincide with the centenary of its opening, and to meet the requirements of the liturgical reforms after the Second Vatican Council, restoration work was carried out in 1971. The interior was sympathetically and painstakingly renovated to highlight the rich warmth of the cedar woodwork and the stained glass, together with the church’s many statues and the marble altar. The quaint little pulpit was also carefully preserved.
Further restoration work was carried out in 2003 as well as conservation work on the outside associated with addressing the perpetual problem of rising damp.
Saint Peter Chanel’s Church is dedicated to the Marist missionary and first martyr of Oceania, who was murdered on the island of Futuna in 1841. The church, as it stands today, was built in two stages, and remains unfinished.
On 26 October, 1890, the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal Moran, blessed the foundation stone for the construction of the first section of the church. The new church at the east end of the parish was intended to provide for Catholics of Woolwich village, some of whom were wealthy, although the greater number were servants and tradesmen who were otherwise faced with an hour’s walk to Villa Maria monastery.
A little more than two years later the Marist Fathers and their parishioners gathered to open their new church on 11 December, 1892. It was a church without a body. The architects had designed a sandstone gothic building of quite impressive proportions in the form of a Latin cross. However, a decision was made to complete the church in stages, and it was the first section, consisting of what is now the sacristy and the sanctuary that was used for seven years.
The second stage was opened on 2 June, 1901. This represented a substantial modification of the original plan, with shortened transcepts, the abandonment of a second sacristy to the north of the sanctuary, and a greatly reduced nave. The incompleteness of the building is still obvious in the external walls of the church. So as not to rule out a lengthening at some future date, the front façade of the church is completed in plaster rather than in stone. A similar accommodation is evident on the north wall of the sanctuary.
In the early 1970s and again in 1988 work was carried out to the interior of the church to accommodate the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council. In 2003 substantial work was carried out on the main entrance to the church to enable ease of access and a gathering space overlooking the Lane Cove river.
The church is valued for its simplicity of lines, its intimate interior, its unsophisticated surrounds, and its commanding position above the Lane Cove river.
The parish has one primary school, "Villa Maria". Within the boundaries there is the Marist Sisters College, a systemic secondary school for girls.