The Abbey church, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, was completed in 1961 and consecrated by the Archbishop of Liverpool, John Carmel Heenan, on 6 September. 
The 1961 ceremonies of the Consecration of the Church were very different to those of today. The rite actually began on the evening of Tuesday 5 September with the sealing of the relics in the temporary church of St Laurence and the blessing of the exterior of the new church – which took place in the narthex of the North transept because it was raining! The ceremony re-commenced at 9.30am on Wednesday morning (and finished about 2.30 p.m.).
The elaborate ceremony was described in the Ampleforth Journal as “part prayer, part drama, part potent act” and included the following elements:
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The Archbishop of Liverpool with his crozier tracing the alphabet in Greek and Latin in ashes across the floor of the nave (there were no benches in the church), symbolising the foundation of the Church in the universal faith, combining both the ancient theological languages (Greek and Latin) to show that the teaching of Christ goes out to all peoples
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The sealing of relics of saints in six altars upstairs and twenty-two in the crypt. “There was a wonderful moment when four young priests in red chasubles carried in the relics of martyrs in an oak chest on their shoulders [This was at the very start of the ceremony]. They came with all the assorted clergy in procession along the top walk, blown by the fresh Yorkshire wind, up the new stairway and up to the altar. And then each of the many prelates, in a businesslike way, came up and received his fragment of human bone on a gold patten and with his entourage hurried away to a side altar and entombed it with stone and cement in the altar”.
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The consecration of the High Altar, which involved the incensing of the five crosses engraved on the altar (symbolising the five wounds of Jesus Christ), the anointing of the altar with the oil of catechumens, and the anointing of the five crosses with the oil of chrism. Then a stream of chrism and the oil of catechumens was poured down the length of the altar, and the Archbishop anointed the whole surface with his hand. In each of the five engraved crosses, five grains of incense were then blessed and burnt. While the rest of the ceremony continued, a monk-priest walked around the High Altar incensing it all the time (and this was for about an hour!).
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The anointing of the twelve consecration crosses on the church walls, symbolising the Twelve Apostles as the spiritual foundation and pillars of the Church.
The Archbishop of Liverpool consecrated the Nave side of the High Altar, dedicated to Saint Laurence. Loudspeakers relayed this part of the ceremony to the crypt soi that the consecration of the altars in the crypt could be synchronised.
Perhaps the most challenging part of the ceremony was the anointing of the twelve consecration crosses on the walls. To reach the crosses, Archbishop Heenan and three assistants had to climb an aluminium scaffold borrowed from the Estates Office and be wheeled around the nave from cross to cross. Unfortunately, Archbishop Heenan had no head for heights and was “considerably distressed” by the experience!
When all the altars had been consecrated, the first Mass in the Abbey church was offered by Abbot Herbert Byrne OSB, in the presence of the Apostolic Delegate (Archbishop Gerald O’Hara), the Archbishop of Liverpool, and the Bishop of Middlesbrough, each sat on their own throne and canopy on the sanctuary. All the other prelates present (over 300) were on kneelers in the nave, while a small number of lay guests were in the gallery.
The Abbey church was opened for public worship on Friday 8 September 1961 by the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal William Godfrey, who celebrated Pontifical High Mass. The sermon was preached by the Archbishop of Liverpool, and an estimated 1,150 people were present, including staff, friends and benefactors of Ampleforth. Lunch followed in a large marquee set up in the Bounds.
And the celebrations still hadn’t finished. To end with the words of the Ampleforth Journal: “The next day all employees, members of the local parishes and those that had taken part in the building of the Church were entertained to tea by Fr Abbot and the community and afterwards attended Benediction and saw over the Church. Thus ended three great days in the history of Ampleforth and one’s final thought is one of thanksgiving to God for giving us at last a church, and a wonderful one”.
