Toronto's St. Helen’s Parish will celebrate a century and a half as a pillar of some of Toronto’s oldest Catholic communities with a special bilingual Mass Nov. 9. 

First established in 1875 in Toronto’s former Brockton village to provide a Catholic church for the growing number of immigrants and new parishioners, St. Helen’s found its footing in the late 19th century, formed out of the pre-existing St. Mary's Parish. Led by its first pastor, Fr. Shea, St. Helen's Church was originally located in the southwest corner of Lansdowne Avenue and Dundas Street West, one block west of its current location at 1680 Dundas St. W. 

Fr. Vando Marques Gomes, the current pastor, said much of the earliest history of St. Helen’s has been lost to time, adding to the mystique of the now 150-year-old symbol of Toronto’s early Catholic life. 

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“The parish's founding records have been lost, so the exact date of its creation is unknown. However, the first official baptism was recorded on Nov. 4, 1875, which provides evidence of the month and year of the parish's founding,” he told The Catholic Register. 

Construction of the current church building began in 1908 and was completed in 1909, designed by architect Arthur William Homes in an early French Gothic revival style. Gomes explained that the need for a new building arose due to the number of registered parishioners, which eclipsed 1,000 members at the time. 

As the demographic of the city changed, so too did St. Helen's. For many, the life of the church was synonymous with the life of Catholic communities in Toronto at the time. 

“The neighbourhood of St. Helen’s was initially formed by Irish immigrants, but as the city developed, other groups arrived, such as Italians, Ukrainians and Poles. In the mid-1970s, a growing number of Portuguese immigrants settled in the area and remain the largest group today, although there is a greater presence of other ethnic groups today as well,” Gomes said. 

Through its fragmented and multicultural past, St. Helen’s Parish of today remains one of the oldest in the Archdiocese of Toronto and is notable for serving both the Portuguese and English-speaking communities. Its regular calendar includes daily Masses in Portuguese during the week, a bilingual Mass in Portuguese and English on Saturdays and three Masses on Sundays, two in Portuguese and one in English. 

The parish also continues to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Spirit, in what Gomes attests as its greatest religious and cultural expression. The celebration takes place over seven Sundays of Easter and concludes on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity with a Mass and procession around the church, celebrating devotion to the Holy Spirit and commemorating St. Elizabeth of Portugal. 

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Throughout its history, St. Helen’s has also been called home by many important figures. Notably, Fr. John O'Connor, who served in the parish for the longest period from 1937 to 1968, Fr. Liborio Tavares, who became the parish's first Portuguese-speaking pastor in 1976, and Fr. Fernando Couto, who carried out a series of major reforms in the church in the late 1990s. 

Gomes also recalled that in 2002, the parish was the largest catechesis centre for World Youth Day, the year of Pope John Paul II's visit to Canada for the youth celebration. Two years prior, St. Helen’s received a papal blessing from Pope John Paul II to commemorate its 125th anniversary.

As its historic and bi-cultural parish life flourishes inside the walls of the church, the structure’s Gothic revival style continues to catch the eye of Torontonians in the Brockton area. 

“St. Helen's Church has a beauty that stands out among the buildings on Dundas Street. It is a church with an old and traditional appearance, but very well preserved and rich in artistic details inside and out,” Gomes said. “There are not many churches with so many artistic details so well preserved, even though the Archdiocese of Toronto has several stunning churches, such as (St. Michael's Cathedral-Basilica) and St. Mary's on Bathurst. St. Helen's Church is a blend of architectural and artistic beauty in its forms, stained glass windows and paintings that elevate the souls of those who visit to pray or simply contemplate its material beauty.” 

These details include the church’s rose window, created by stained glass artist N.T. Lyon, featuring a design of the Sacred Heart of Jesus flanked by images of the major prophets of the Old Testament, such as David, Isaiah and Jeremiah and interwoven with symbols of the crucifixion. Gomes also complimented the lancet windows on each of the east and west walls of the church, the altar designed in 1930, created by the sculptors of the De Prato Statuary Company and sculpted out of white Carrara marble and Mexican onyx, and historic organ systems and bell towers. 

All of these historical elements providing the makeup of St. Helen’s physical beauty will be on display during the celebratory Mass on Nov. 9. There, Cardinal Francis Leo, Archbishop of Toronto, will preside over the Mass of Thanksgiving, with hopes the Cardinal will bless a monument to be placed at the front of the church to mark the parish’s 150 years of faith. One day prior, a special Mass with the children of nearby St. Helen's School will be celebrated, where a time capsule containing messages about the church, written by the children, will be buried.

Festivities are expected to continue through the month, with a special dinner for the parishioners taking place Nov. 15, before concluding with an afternoon of spirituality prepared for the young people in partnership with the Archdiocese of Toronto's youth office on Nov. 29. 

During this time of celebration and reflection, Gomes said there is still much to be done, citing the parish’s dream to attract more young people to participate and commit to parish life. Still, pride in his pastoral home and its enduring legacy remains clear as St. Helen’s looks to the future. 

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“Celebrating 150 years of history with a community still alive, celebrating its faith daily and enduring cultural adversities and historical upheavals, is truly remarkable. It shows us that the Church of Christ resides in the hearts of the people who make up the community and therefore cannot be extinguished,” he said. 

“God is guiding everything and guiding us through each event and project for the future.”