Name of Church St. Gerard Majella
Address 4439 Inglewood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90066-6299
Phone number 310-390-5034
Website www.stgerardla.com
Mass times Saturday vigil, 5:30 p.m.; Sundays, 7:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m. (Spanish); noon, 1:30 p.m. (Spanish); Monday-Saturday, 8 a.m.
Confessions 3-4 p.m.
Names of priests Father Martin Slaughter, pastor;Father Gerardo Padilla & Father Charles Vijay Kumar, in residence. Father Slaughter is a fine, orthodox pastor who loves apologetics and is devoted to the pro-life cause. He’s celebrating his 30th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. Father Padilla grew up in the parish and celebrates Mass in both English and Spanish. The priests will present and defend the teachings of the Church, including those related to sexual morality.
School St. Gerard no longer has a school, but it has a relationship with a charter school in the area. The school is good academically, but does not teach the faith. St. Gerard, however, offers religious education programs for children and adults.
Parish groups and activities Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on first Fridays and first Saturdays, Padre Pio prayer group, Purgatorial society, Our Lady of Fatima devotion on the 13th of the month at 7 p.m., Men’s Bible study.
Fellow parishioners Anglo, Hispanic and Filipino
Parking Ample parking
Cry room No
Additional observations St. Gerard was founded in 1952; it was dedicated to St. Gerard Majella, the patron of expectant mothers, difficult pregnancies and childless couples. Buy religious books from the parish bookstore in the parking lot after Sunday Mass.
The altar does have the crucifix, tabernacle front and center and six candlesticks, only thing missing is the communion rail and of course The Traditional Latin Mass!
God will smite us all if we don’t have six candlesticks, Janek. Oh, by the way, we now have electricity so we don’t need so many candles for the Priest to see what he is reading. The least important thing about the Mass, in either form, is the number of candles, the material of the vestments, the lace on the altar cloth and all the other things that add beauty, in the eyes of most, but are not essential. What is important is the sacrifice, the changing of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, and our communion with him. The other stuff is theater. We are to worship Christ, not the stuff.
Bob One, here is a compatriot of yours, who shares your opinion against 6 candles and the traditional Catholic Latin Mass practice:
“The use of a row of six candlesticks on the altar, or on a shelf or gradine behind it, is pure Romanism, and a defiance of the Ornaments Rubric, as of all other authority in the Church of England.”
–Anglican socialist and virulently anti-Catholic “priest”, Percy Dearmer (d. 1936), in his pamphlet, “The Parson’s Handbook”
Janek and I are going with the 6 candlesticks (6, because the heavenly liturgy will be complete with 7, Christ the Paschal Candle). You and Dearmer—well, you figure it out among yourselves.
Steve, its ok to have six candles if you want them. I didn’t say it wasn’t. I simply suggested that the Consecration of the Elements, and Communion was the most important part of the Mass. Le’ts have as many as anyone wants to have. I could care less. Do not, however, mess with the Mass itself.
Numbers have deep meaning and symbolism in Judeo-Christian theology. I believe the three-branched candlesticks symbolize the Holy Trinity. The seven-branched candlesticks that some Traditional Latin Masses have are mentioned in Revelation (Apocalypse) 1:12 as being in the heavenly sanctuary, and the number seven is a symbol for perfection.
Although we should not worship “stuff” we do need it for consecrating the Holy Sacrament and adding beauty and meaning to the sacred liturgy, as long as we also feed and clothe the poor. Making sacred items gives jobs to others and helps support their families.
The Traditional Latin Mass will be celebrated every Sunday at a convenient time when enough people in the parish ask for it!
So its ok to purchase ornate chalices and vestments at huge cost while denying the children’s religious ed program minimally adequate resources??
Exactly: that’s right! Religious ed in the dioceses is under-funded due to “ornate chalice and vestments” purchases.
Steve — good point, not disagreeing…but……if we turn that upside down, we might also say that if the Liturgy was more pointed heavenward as per how it was conceived, not as a Kumbaya praise dance festival (nothing wrong with those …on their own, but not part of Mass) people, especially men, who have been so turned off by the new touchy feely feminized church, might return and guess what, they bring money too!!! And everyone is happy, besides to be teaching rel ed and see abuse of the liturgy (and remember ‘Lex orandi, lex credendi’ – as the Church Prays so She Believes) there can be a cognitive dissonance there.
this church takes up separate collections for the chalice, vestments and religious education. Go ahead and donate. TH
I have several family members on both sides and many friends who are Protestants very active in their churches and in the education of children in their faith. They are think it is a scandal that the Catholic parishes in the area charge parents to have their kids in religious classes. They believe that is a fundamental purpose of the church; to bring people to God, to teach the faith, etc. It raises a good question (not the topic of this site, I know). Why isn’t faith formation just a part of the regular budget and not a fee-for-service charge? Why do we put a price tag on Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, etc.?
I was shocked and disappointed with the behavior and attitude of the priest and his ministerial support staff and parishioners today on Sunday May 15, after9am mass.We were new to this church, we thought we liked it as the mass was more traditional and we could receive holy communion more reverently and was hoping to come as regular parishioners.However, an incident with the way they deal with an apparent unsolicited vendor who was selling Sacramentals items form Jerusalem outside the church today revealed that they don’t practice Christlike behaviors at all. There are more peaceful ways to resolve such situations as I see it. When I tried to be a peacemaker, as new comers we were not only mocked but insulted by the aggressive staff. The priest was verbally combative when he came out and did not listen to us when we tried to relate what we witnessed as uncalled for aggression towards the vendor by his ministry people. He did not care to hear what we witnessed as We were told if we don’t like it we don’t have to come back to this church. This is not how you preach love. “Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary. ” St Francis. Your excuse to enable the rude and mocking behaviors of your sheeps does not reflect Christ teaching. So what if the aggressive offender under your care has been a parishioner for longer than I am. What has her aggressive unchristian like behavior has over the truth of the matter which I was trying to convey to you? You use the example of how Jesus overturn the tables of people selling wares in the temple. First of all this vendor was not selling Inside the church he set up his wares outside but in the parking lot of the church compounds. Yes he did not realize he had to seek permission or according to your people he came before which he denied. He was not aggressive towards you or your staff harrassing him. You don’t threaten the vendor with verbal and physical harm. He was already moving his wares outside of church compounds as you confronted him.The vendor is a Palestinian Christian he is also our Christian brother in Christ. You can prevent future such occurrence from happening by posting no solicitation signs as a deterrent or call the police. Please practice what you preach on the pulpit and be a model for your sheeps. Blessed are the peacemakers. Love is patient and kind. Unfortunately we did not witness that today from you the pastor of the flock and your sheeps. The universal church goes beyond your immediate parish community. Practice grace! Practice forebearance !