Christ the King Church in Long Branch began
as an idea in the mind of its first pastor, Father Stephen Auad.
For some years Father Auad had conducted well attended devotions
to St. Anthony at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church on St. Patrick
Street in Toronto. Indeed, in 1933, a daily newspaper declared his
shrine to St. Anthony to be among the great shrines in Canada.
In 1938 Father Auad presented a proposal to Achbishop James
McGuigan, then Archbishop of Toronto, to build a shrine to St.
Anthony in Long Branch. The Archbishop, much worried about
finances which was rather strained at that time, said no. Father
Auad, crestfallen, returned to his home. His housekeeper, a
remarkable lady named Mrs. Maggie Jobin, urged him to return to
the Archbishop and present his proposal more firmly. Father Auad
did so, even to the extent of banging on the desk. This action
astounded the Archbishop, for Father Auad was truly the mildest
and humblest of priests. The Archbishop is reported to have
laughed till tears ran down his cheeks. Then, taking the matter
seriously, the Archbishop said, "If you feel so strongly about the
church, go ahead, but keep it your responsibility". Accordingly,
on August 4, 1938, Father Auad was appointed the parish priest of
Long Branch, and directed to build a church.
The property he purchased was occupied by an old brick house which
had been used as a cider plant. To convert it to a dwelling place
needed scrubbing with lye to remove apple peels from the floor and
walls. While the church was being built a former bank at the
corner of Lakeshore Boulevard West and 40th street was transformed
into a place of worship. Several parishioners remember assisting
at Mass in this building.
Meanwhile construction of the new church was proceeding. Its
corner stone was blessed and laid on April 23, 1939 at 3pm, on
which occasion Monsignor Patrick Coyle offered Mass and Monsignor
James Treacy gave the sermon. On September 17, 1939, the first
Mass was offered in the new church by its pastor, Father Auad. On
Sunday, May 26, 1940, Archbishop McGuigan blessed the church and
dedicated it to Christ the King.
It was Father Auad's wish that the church be named the Shrine of
St. Anthony, but the wish was refused because a church names St.
Anthony's already existed in the archdiocese.
Sadly, Father Auad's stay in his hard won church was short. About
four years after the church was completed Father Auad died. He
suffered a stroke while preaching at Midnight Mass, December 25,
1944, and died on December 26, 1944.