A new parish priest, an old church. What's Changing on Windsor Road

Fr. Michał Kozak mic donates the parish of the Virgin Mary to the Mother of the Church. Since September, the duties have been taken over by Fr. Łukasz Mazurek mic. In the background: a pilgrimage to Aylesford, registration for communion and confirmation, Lubczyk restaurant and the church that Poles bought in 1985.

The address is known to everyone who at least once looked for a Polish Mass after leaving Ealing Broadway: 2 Windsor Road, W5 5PD. The parish of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of the Church has been the axis of the religious and social life of the local Polish community for 76 years.

The first Mass for Poles in Ealing was celebrated on 21 May 1950 in the English Church of St Benedict — at the Benedictines, in today’s Ealing Abbey. Later there was the Polish Catholic Centre, the presbytery at Mount Avenue, the Marian Fathers from 1965, and in 1985 — after years of fundraising — the purchase of their own church on Windsor Road. In accordance with Cardinal Wyszyński’s intention, the parish was dedicated under the title of Our Lady, Mother of the Church.

The change taking place now. By decision of the Provincial, Fr Michał Kozak MIC is ending his service as parish priest and returning to the shrine in Licheń. The duties of parish priest and superior of the religious house will be taken over by Fr Łukasz Mazurek MIC, previously associated with the Apostolate of Divine Mercy and already regularly serving in this parish. A Mass of thanksgiving for Fr Michał and a prayer for a blessing for Fr Łukasz: Sunday, 13 September, at 1:00 p.m.

The pilgrimage comes earlier: Saturday, 5 September, departure at 9:15 a.m. for the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Aylesford. Cost: £25. Sign-ups in the sacristy and parish office.

Masses — as of August/September 2026
Sunday: 8:30 a.m., 10:00 a.m. (with children), 11:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 2:30 p.m. (from September, during preparation for First Holy Communion), 5:15 p.m. (except July and August), 7:00 p.m. with an online broadcast.

Monday–Saturday: 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 7:00 p.m.

Children’s Mass on the first Friday: 5:30 p.m. (except July and August).

Adoration: Thursday at 6:30 p.m. (for vocations), Friday after the 7:00 p.m. Mass, and the first Sunday of the month from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. On Thursdays after the evening Mass — Vespers for the dead.

Confessions: Mon–Fri 9:30–11:00 a.m. and 6:30–8:00 p.m. (on Friday, during Adoration, until 9:00 p.m.); Saturday morning and 5:00–6:00 p.m.; Sunday 3:30–4:30 p.m. There are no confessions during Mass.

Dates not to be missed

First Holy Communion — children born in 2018 (or 2017): registration by 11 September.

Confirmation — those born in 2012 and earlier: registration by 20 September.

To have a child baptised, obtain a certificate for a godparent, or receive a reference for a Catholic school, you must be registered with the parish. The form is available in the sacristy, parish office and at parafiaealing.co.uk.

Parish office in August: Monday 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m., Thursday 4:00–6:00 p.m.

Lubczyk. The parish restaurant by the church: Tuesday–Friday 1:30–7:00 p.m., Saturday 10:30 a.m.–6:30 p.m., Sunday 9:30 a.m.–7:00 p.m., closed Monday. Tel. 07799 522460. After the 1:00 p.m. Mass on Sunday, the queue for pork schnitzel is as much a part of the Ealing landscape as the Central Line.

Among the organisations operating at the parish are the Living Rosary, the Vine Stock group (for married couples experiencing difficulty conceiving or after pregnancy loss), and a columbarium. There are also two convents (on Mount Park Road and Gordon Road) and Kolbe House at 18 Hanger Lane — a Polish care home, spoken of less often than the fairs, yet it is precisely there that one can see how the first post-war wave is ageing.

The church on Windsor Road is not a museum piece. It is full — someone recently wrote online that “there are still no free pews at any Mass”. The change of parish priest does not erase that. It merely changes the name on the noticeboard.