This has been an anniversary year for the Jesuits’ church at Farm Street in London – July 31 marked the 175th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone and also the 170th anniversary of the consecration. The church is visited by up to 3,000 people per week. It has a diverse congregation with a lively faith community at its heart. People come for private prayer and public worship, as well as for the beauty of its art and architecture.
It is the art and architecture that I would like to focus on this Christmas. Farm Street is one of the artistic and architectural jewels of English Catholicism. The work of several architects, numerous patrons and a constellation of artists and artisans, it makes a compelling case for importance of beauty in church building – for the theology of beauty.
