Name of Church Mary Star of the Sea
Address 870 W. Eighth Street, San Pedro, CA 90731
Phone number (310) 833-3541
Website www.marystar.org
Mass Schedule Monday through Saturday 8 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. Sundays, 7:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m. (Spanish), noon, 1:30 p.m. (Croatian), 5 p.m. (Life Teen) and 6:30 p.m. (Italian).
Confessions Thursday and Friday after 5:15 p.m. Mass; Saturday after 8 a.m. Mass and 4-5 p.m.
Names of priests Father Maurice Harrigan, pastor. Father Manuel Leon Bravo and Kaspar Reddy Udumala, associate pastors. Father Ivan Gerovac, Croatian ministry. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny reside in the parish convent. Father Harrigan is orthodox, a good homilist and a good confessor/spiritual advisor.
Special activities and groups Knights of Columbus; Perpetual Adoration; Respect Life; St. Anne Altar Society; Divine Mercy Group; Bible studies, morning and evening; various prayer groups.
Music Depends on the Mass, cantors and choirs
Fellow parishioners This parish has a mix of ethnic groups, but most are English speaking. There is also a Croatian ministry.
School Yes, both elementary and high school. Established in 1951, Mary Star of the Sea High School is staffed by the Norbertine Fathers of St. Michael’s Abbey, an orthodox and pious community of priests. The Norbertines assist at the parish on the weekends; the high school is about a 10-minute drive from the parish.
Parking Busy on the weekend with full lots.
Cry room Yes.
Additional observations Mary Star of the Sea is a parish of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. It sits on a hill overlooking the Port of Los Angeles; it has traditionally been known as the “fisherman’s parish,” due to its close ties with the local fishing and cannery community. Its first parishioners included Croatian, Portuguese and Italian fishing families; many of their descendants still attend the parish. It was established in 1889 (a year after San Pedro became a city), making it one of the region’s oldest parishes. The current church was built in 1958. Special features include a 10-foot bronze statue of Mary mounted on top of the church’s bell tower, with her arms outstretched to the port. Inside you’ll see some ocean-themed art, such as a statue of Mary holding a tuna clipper over the altar, a mosaic of Mary standing on ocean waves over the church’s entrance, and a stained glass window to the right of the altar area depicting Jesus on a boat speaking to fishermen. The parish has bookstore with religious items open on Wednesdays and Sundays.
What a gem! How beautiful – thank you. I wish I lived closer!
I agree Carol. Its beautiful.
SO there are few interesting features to the architecture of this Church, and I understand from the get-go that they may have to do with the amazingly wonderful history of the parish.
Mary at the top of the Church and over the altar. Ummm. No. Christ is the head and foundation of our Church. If you look at great cathedrals built contemporaneosly with this one…for example Sagrada Familia in Barcelona…the placement of the statues and other art clearly delivers a message of the hierarchy within Salvation History. Mary is a crucial element to salvation history, but she is not the top, and certainly not the presider over the Altar.
750 characters so briefly….image on the front and the symbology of the facade are interesting…
Gasp — Wrong Again “Your Fellow Catholic”!: placement of Our Holy Mother atop a baldachin, over the altar, is common. This is a fitting tribute Her. A good example is the enormous baldachin at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.
This altar is attractive. Too bad only the N.O. is said there, and in some the Church’s official language of Spanish, too. Hola!!
Thank you for reminding me to go to the Shrine when I am next in DC. I have been meaning to get there but haven’t made it recently. I need to go!
You really have an issue with Our Lady, YFC.
Everyone knows Mary is not Jesus, but there is nothing misleading or anti-Catholic in having a statue of Our Lady above the altar – especially in Churches dedicated in Her honor.
That said, however, I find it odd that you would stake such a position with regard to the Blessed Mother, but take no issue with the Tabernacle being placed in some side room on other threads.
In this case, the Tabernacle is present and there is no doubt that God is central.
YFC consistently deemphasizes the salvific role given to Mary by Almighty God. Many years ago we watched the giant crane place the large statue of Our Lady on top of the Church. Mary Star of the Sea used to have a beautiful marble altar rail for Holy Communion. The altar rail was removed close to the same time that many of the Immaculate Hearts Sisters decided to rebel. A few sisters remained very faithful and in full habit. Like the prophecy at Akita, Japan, the Immaculate Heart sisters that remained faithful were persecuted by their own for their loyalty to God first. The fisherman of the town generously donated the money and were crushed to see it’s beauty wreckovated in any way. Life Teen included.
Our Lady does not belong over the altar in which our Lord is sacrificed. That is just my opinion. I’m sure others will dispute that opinion, and that is their right.
As to the placement of the Tabarnacle, I agree with my orthodox brothers that it should be placed in a position of honor. Central for worship. And prominent in place.
What is your point?
I don’t have an “issue” with our Lady. It’s just that she cannot preside over the Eucharistic sacrifice, and no other woman can either.
YFC, your understanding of the Faith is not what it should be if a statue of Our Lady leads YOU to imply what you did. That is not a problem with the statue’s placement, but with your misconceptions.
And, YFC,Our Lady is unlike any other woman. Something we should remember. She is the Mother of God.
As to the positioning of the tabernacle, perhaps you should be with your fellow Catholics. Especially if you believe in the importance of visual symbols.
Ann Malley I have zero worries about my faith because of any criticism you have of it. Yours is not a catholic faith, but a schismatic faith, and one which twists the words of the great gift that is Vatican II into a justification for your own heresies.
YFC, it is not my assessment of your Faith, but rather the un-Catholic understanding that you post that is cause for concern. If you’re unconcerned, then that is your choice to dismiss what would otherwise indicate somewhat of a phobia of the God’s Holy Mother.
Also, your attributing your odd fears and fear mongering to the great gift of Vatican II is to wholly misunderstand any hermenutic of continuity. Rather, your disjointed fears, point to the modernist ideology that crippled the council.
As for heresy – there is no heresy in keeping to what the Church has always taught prior to VII. There is, however, a heretical tone to your disparaging of Our Lady.
YFC your judging them but you, yourself has not fully been obedient. Your unfaithful, your infidelity is well known here against the Churches natural law and its scriptural teachings on homosexual sins. While your still growing and if you desire to surrender yourself wholly to our Lord, decline from making pro gay comments. Follow the great example if Job. Learn from his faithfulness even after being tested of his faithfulness. We can all learn from Job and desire to avoid any occasion of sin and remain faithful to Christ and His church. Not to abandone our Lord in all His teachings within His church. Just like she judges you and visa versa but you both need a change of heart and pull thy own rods out of your eyes.
Abeca, YFC is not judging anybody. He is promoting the notion that there is heresy where none exists. AND he is attempting to foist a Protestant view of Our Lady on Catholics (read the other thread regarding Holy Days. YFC’s comments are shocking.) As to VII’s downplaying of Our Lady, that is true. And that is yet another reason why the council is problematic in its pastoral approach – it causes confusion in what previously had always been crystal clear.
But YFC has been given the fuel of those who calumniate others by calling them ‘schismatic’ and ‘heretic’. That is why the use of those terms needs to stop for there is neither schism nor heresy as YFC claims.
And there is similarly NO attempt to put Our Lady above Christ…
…by honoring Her with this beautiful statue at Star of the Sea.
Please, for the benefit of ALL, read Bishop Scheider’s interview and pull the blanket away from your eyes and extract the rods.
The one judging here – and with a complete miss, Abeca – is you. And while you think your heart may be in the right place, your information and understanding is completely erroneous.
Abeca this has nothing to do with homosexuality at ALL.
Ok Ann Malley I get it. I get that you disagree with me. No problem.
Abeca, someday I pray you will understand that much of what you consider ‘opinion’ is rather just the way things are – objectively speaking.
Nothing personal at all. God bless.
Ann Malley I know its not personal. I feel the same way about you. I guess we just have to agree to disagree. thank you. God bless you too. I appreciate all your prayers. I don’t discount your feelings though on how you feel about things, when it comes to things that we have in common, that we both care deeply.
YFC you are right, this article is not about homosexuality. I was hoping to proof a point to you and Ann Malley but I failed. Such is life. I’m OK with it. Thanks for responding to me politely. I meant no offense, I was trying to be charitable, but you know that often charity is not often detected nor welcomed. Especially because we are sinners, and our sins cause discomfort when truth is presented to us.
…you did not fail in charity, Abeca, rather you just do not understand the issues at hand and how they are very much interconnected.
That is why we need to look at the truth, all of it. That includes not shying away from looking to the very real sins of prelates who opened up Mother Church to the spirit of the times…. and with history forever awash in that which is of the world, there was bound to be problems. That is why we need to truly understand the implications of VII being a pastoral council, not discount cool objective analysis to “lies” or just wanting to be difficult. If only matters were that simple. But alas, they never are when human beings attempt to disregard God’s plain truths and opt for appeasement of the…
YFC, ‘this’ has everything to do with your overall confusion about the Catholic Faith. So, homosexuality has something to do with it as you present a very discombobulated ethic and attempt to put it forth as Catholic.
Ann Malley, you prove over and over again that you don’t understand the Catholic faith. You preach about it all the time, yet you don’t attend a Church of Rome.
Homosexuality is not an issue in this thread. It just isn’t. It has ZERO to do with any issue raised here, except you raise it as an ad hominem rather than deal with the real questions at hand.
YFC sodomy is against the Logos, it is an attack on the order set by God Himself, nothing you say or the gays thugs do is ever going to change that. You are already starting from a defective point of view, I would suggest you just shutup and go away.
YFC, your understanding of the Faith is what I called into question here as you seem to be scandalized by the honor rightly paid to the Blessed Mother within the Catholic Church. The only correlation with homosexuality here is that your views on that subject also do not coincide with Church teaching – perennial Church teaching – but are similarly twisted to reflect an anti-Catholic agenda.
As to attending the Church of Rome, it is very much to attend to Mother Church by upholding her perennial teachings rather than to sit in the pews with an eye to obfuscate and skew Catholic teaching by your confused rhetoric about VII and Our Lady.
You may want to withhold your own ad hominem attacks in future and stick to the topic. The…
… perfectly Catholic placement of a statue honoring Our Lady in a Church dedicated to Her honor :)
Why YOU don’t understand that is your problem.
Abeca, I would respond kindly to your bridge-building note at 6:20 PM but I’m sure there are those on this site that would then use it as “evidence” that you and i are in cahoots. As you say, such is life. Be well.
There is no bridge building with those who reject the Truth… sorry YFC… bridge building is a term liberals use
Why do you have the Life Teen Mass if the pastor is Orthodox
Gretchn, I just had to attend a Life Teen Mass because I was in the hospital for the morning Masses. It is just the same as every other Mass. The only difference was the music, which I liked but my teen did not.
I guess they must be different in different places as the ones here are more like the Protestant worship service.
??
The founder of Life Teen was an interesting individual with whom I had my share of dealings in Phoenix — ex-Msgr. Dale Fushek, once heir-apparent to become a bishop, either there or somewhere. He was former Bp. O’Brien’s right-hand man (he was Vicar General) and basically his flak-man. I always refused to “dialogue” with him: the leopard doesn’t change its spots.
After Olmsted came to town, Fushek founded his own church (Praise and Worship Center in Mesa, AZ) and eventually was excommunicated by Olmsted.
If you like Life Teen, and if it has good guidance, it can be great: it depends on the pastor and the youth ministers and how closely they are watching things. If not, it is at best a hang-out, at worst—-well you can…
Well Steve fair enough. I just heard from someone else what you just said. That it can be good and he has seen good depending on the parish priests running it. Good comments here from you. I appreciate it. No hysteria or fear mongering. Thanks.
Abeca, show me either from the Bible or from the historic teaching of the Church (or both) the basis for a weekly, regularly scheduled “Teen Mass.” (The Church has survived and even thrived for centuries without Teen Mass, so I think this is a valid question.) Couple its questionable basis with a founder who was both a molester and a schismatic, an organization that has been criticized over and over for encouraging liturgical abuses and heretical music, and a middle-school ministry that retains the sexually suggestive, baiting name (“Edge”) given to it by its founder: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=edging and there is simply NO REASON this program should be allowed to continue in any Catholic Church.
Thank you Dave N. You are absolutely right!
Dave N I only replied to Steve’s comments. I can not answer to what you are asking me because I just found out this information from Catherine’s comments. If you want to turn it into an argument or ill assumptions, then your on your own. Read my reply from August 19, 2015 at 12:10 pm. Thanks
Now the Mass is still the Mass, regardless if they call it a name to encourage more teens to attend at that hour. Like I tried conveying before, we went to a homeschoolers mass in the past, it was mostly homeschooling families and during the week. I don’t know who came up with the idea, I hope that they are in good standing too or else, I hope they don’t cancel it. Now about what you and Catherine have commented, yes they are real concerns to get facts on and consider, but the teen mass I know of, not called life teen, has encouraged the youth to attend mass together and participate in it fully and shortly after they leave to their youth group gatherings. So it may or may not the same thing. Thanks though for your concern.
well I don’t want to get into a heated debate about this. Especially since Catherine’s comments have made us reflect on it, which is good I had no idea before this was brought up. But I am cautious at what is being said here, so I need to verify. compile my facts and conclude, praying for the holy ghost to guide me. Like Ann Malley and I have discussed it is good to have access to good priests, she and I have discussed that too. Dave N I am weary about what is posted here, some people are not faithful to the Magesterium, some pretend to be as well and we have to be watchful and alert as our Lord has always asked us of His faithful.
PAX Christi
Pax Christi
Yes, Life Teen Mass is a dead giveaway that there are problems in the parish.
Prudence is a gift of the Holy Ghost. Where is the long awaited wisdom when even allowing the usage of the name “Life Teen” Masses. How completely out of touch with the Catholic Faith and out of touch with those who were molested. Keeping the founder’s name choice of “Life teen.” is very troublesome. Since when did the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass NEED to be embellished or associated with a founder’s name who molested teens and caused horrific scandal. Who is guarding the Deposit of Faith? Certainly not the sleeping leaders who allow this insult to continue.
Taken from Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Fushek
Wow. These comments are loads of information that i need to understand. Life teen mass? I never heard of it. There is a founder? He molested? First time heard all this. I need to ask our local priest to varify the truth. Catherine and others if what you present here, we should all seek answers. Wicked men still bearing bad seeds. Im grateful for the faithful parishes near us because i havent heard of this. Ive been to a teen mass. Its holy reverent to the one ive been to. After that mass, the youth have their youth group meeting. Our local latin mass parish sometimes has a special mass day for home schoolers. So i need to verifu what you posted. But thank you for making us aware if all this true.
….Thank you for showing the willingness to learn and understand that there are serious issues at play, Abeca. Issues that extend beyond your sphere of experience.
And while your local priest may be close at hand, that is NO guarantee that he is well versed either. There are a bounty of wicked men planting all manner of seed – in minds and souls.
Thank God that you have access to a solid priest.
Yes I agree Ann Malley on what you said about thanking God that i have solid priests. Throughtout my life. I had seek them but they are there. Wicked men and women are everywhere. That’s why its important know the faith, reading the CCC and holy scriptures. To guard our eyes and ears. And by the way i pray Jesus blood over our conversation. For His protection and graces.
…we need to shield our eyes and ears, yes, but not from the truth. For being able to look at and identify that which is sinful (..or something that is simply not what the Church actually teaches despite its promotion) square in the face and to know it as evil is what give us the wherewithal to call on the Precious Blood.
That’s why we’ve got the admonition to beware of blind guides and look to the ‘fruits’ of whatever it is that is being promoted in order to judge with right judgement.
God bless
Ann Malley yes Definitely, to sum up what you are saying, correct me if I’m incorrect, but we are to fight the good fight. As for myself, yes daily. Just there are days, we need rest. Being a busy mom and wife, daughter and friend, well you know.
Take care.
Excellent post “Catherine”.
Thank you, St. Christopher!
Why would have to change the name of the organization because it’s founder did something bad? Are you worried about branding or something?
I think Steve Phoenix’ post presents a very wise outlook on LIFETEEN.
This is a ministry which is meant to lead teens to a deeper knowledge and love of Jesus in the Eucharist. How well it does this varies according to who is running the local programs.
You would change the name for the very same reason that you still choose to hide by not using the same recognizable name. No one knows your posting motives because you refuse to identify yourself. Same with the founder of LIFETEEN. He obviously had hidden motives! Stop branding the Mass and Catholic teens with a molester’s grooming name idea. Pick a new Catholic name if you claim to care about the “social justice” of those who were abused. The grooming identity name should have been changed immediately after he pleaded guilty and was excommunicated. Subway will treat sandwiches better than you want to treat The Deposit of Faith.
“…Subway will treat sandwiches better than you want to treat The Deposit of Faith.”
Sad, but true.
This reminds me of when the scandals came out about Father Corapi. I think EWTN removed all his talks. They were still excellent talks though. But i have to say is that Catherine feels passionate about what she is saying. Her concerns are valid. When it comes to children, we just cant take things lightly. But since life teen masses are there, we pray that good will be done from that to correct sin.
Catherine, wouldn’t changing the name of the organization be trying to hide something?
“Catherine, wouldn’t changing the name of the organization be trying to hide something?”
Not just a name change but a Catholic teen program change too. There are many young Catholic saints who are role models for today. There needs to be a return to our true Catholic identity. This is why Our Lord told us to hold fast to our traditions. Novelties die out and novelties founded by predators have no business being associated with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
There are many Catholic youth programs.
I believe the Pastor, Fr. Harrigan, is magisterial, but not Orthodox. Anyone who wants to confirm this should call the office and ask.
Dale … Could you please explain your terminology here. Does magisterial mean faithful to the Magisterium of the Church? By capital “O” orthodox you surely don’t mean Eastern Orthodox, so what is the difference between the two? Thank you.
“magisterial but not orthodox”
What in Jesus name does that even mean?
And I should have added in my last post that he is a holy priest not afraid to pass on the teachings of the Church. I know him from the last parish he was in, and drove on three freeways to attend that Church. You will know more about the faith and what is expected of you as a Catholic after hearing his homilies, which are engaging, informative and inspiring. I am now living in another state, and miss very much his presence in my faith journey.
Thanks, Dale. The whole Church eminates beauty and tranquility and to know one is fed spiritually as well as aesthetically must be a true blessing to the parishoners. Lucky them!
again, what does magisterial but not orthodox mean?
I took it to mean it had N.O. Masses as opposed to Latin Mass. I’d be curious to read Dales response, as well.
Hard to believe, looking at the kind of Masses offered.
If the pastor truly does pass on the teachings of the Church, then there would not be “Teen Life” or “Italian” or “Spanish” Masses. And communion would be received kneeling and on the tongue, but then, almost no one believes that anymore, as we are truly a Protestant-Catholic Church.
St. C, let me first state that I didn’t know that “Teen Life” was a formal organization or type of Mass. Many parishes, however, have “teen” Masses as a way to attract young people and keep them in the faith. Statistics show that Catholics who leave the Church do so before they are 24 years old. The reasons for leaving are varied, but generally involve irrelevant liturgies (music, homilies, not faith). Smartphones have changed the way the world communicates in only a few years. Everyone now has their own music on them at all times, “talk” in tweets and show pictures on Snap Chat. When they go to Church, it had better be what they call relevant, or they will leave quickly. Hard for us old folks to understand, but …
Bob One you have a complete and total misunderstanding of what it means to be Catholic….if young people do not find mass “relevant” I say let the go, let the Churches empty as they have been since the failed V2 Council. You seem to believe that Church must be popular and must change with the times.. Utter nonsense as usual Bob One, I would rather have a smaller but Holier Church than one dominated by novelties and fads…
St. C, I believe we have to get over the idea that all Masses need to be in Latin. People don’t study Latin any more. For fifty plus years Mass has been in the language of the people. In many parts of our country, English is not the language spoken in the home. It takes generations to get everyone on the English track. So, Mass is in the language of the people. In some dioceses Mass on Sunday is in as many as twenty different languages. English is no longer the majority language in the LA basin. Latin is not the majority language anywhere in the country. Times change the methods but not the faith.
“St. C, I believe we have to get over the idea that all Masses need to be in Latin.” Wrong again Bob One, we are not getting over the idea. You pathetic generation caused most of these problems in the Church and the protestantization of the mass was one of the biggest. Just the as Arian heresy dominated the Church for decades and then defeated, I believe the NO mass will be defeated and discarded. Again your reasons for opposing the TLM are because you believe the Church should continue to accommodate the laity rather than the Faithful sacrificing for the Church. The Eastern Church uses Greek in its liturgies and it is not a language spoken by the majority of those in the Eastern Church, so your second argument has been rendered…
I just watched a Sacred Liturgy by a Bishop of an Eastern Rite, and it was all in English except for the Kyrie. The Orthodox may still use Greek, but I suspect only in the Greek Orthodox.
I have, as I have state before several times to you, never been opposed to the TLM. I like it, but don’t attend because I like English or French better. There is no dislike here, just a preference.
And to prove your point, there has NEVER been a point at which the entire Church celebrated the liturgy in Latin! Never EVER!
And there has never EVER been a point at which the entire Church celebrated the liturgy even in anything like a TRANSLATION of the TLM. Never EVER!
Your point, “Your Fellow Catholic”, is difficult to understand, or to determine its relevance to the point under discussion.
Why not a Playboy Mass? Or a “God on the Golf Course” Mass (like that dopy priest did for the Seattle Seahawks NFL team). Or a Mass in the Nude (just like God brought us into the world)? Well, you should get the idea. Hope for reconciliation with the SSPX.
Although this article leaves some things out and of course can’t point to the continuing problems with liturgical abuse since it was was published, the article is a good summary on the problems of LifeTeen and Teen Mass in general:
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=7191
The LIFETEEN Mass I attended had more people that were not teens than teens and there were parents there with the teens.
One parish I attended for years had a “quiet/low Mass” at 7:00 am, a “full choir, organ and cantor” at 9:00, a “cantor and guitar” Mass at 10:30 am, a “Spanish Mass” at noon, and a “teen Mass” with full band. We conducted a survey once to determine why people chose which Mass to attend, and which format they preferred. About 85-90 percent made their decision based on the time of the Mass, not the format. Interesting!
This is probably true since teen masses are designed to engage people who might otherwise be turned off to a low-energy mass. My parish has started a “low” Sunday evening mass which is actually designed to be a more quiet prayerful mass, but the music is quite excellent. Lots of young adults go, and those of us who still pretend we are young adults like it too!
Once again the only thing missing is the Traditional Latin Mass!!
Teen Life Mass indeed, so once they are no longer teens they never go to Mass anyway, what a joke. Even the Novus Ordo is a “Teen Life Mass” it is quite childish and self-serving, just like having ” altar girls” who can never become priests is such a waste of the girls time. The Novus Ordo is just a “show production” where the priest who for the most part just “sits” in a chair and lets lay people and women run around the altar or as they call it the “worship space” whatever that is. It has been 40 plus years and it is time to become adults and act like adults bring back the Traditional Latin Mass let the ones who like hand holding, kiss of peace, drums, guitars, folk, polka, mariachi music, felt banners, communion in the…