Mary, Star of the Sea Parish is to give love, direction and support to all members of our community as we seek ways to center our lives on Christ, our Eucharist, in our quest for eternal life. The Parish believes that it must evangelize, exclude none, communicate openly, show compassion and mercy to all, and follow Mary, our Star (Hoku), as she leads us in our mission. Mary, Star of the Sea Parish 4470 Aliikoa St. Honolulu, HI 96821
The Parish just celebrated its 60th Foundation Anniversary last October 15, 2006. The Marist Fathers and Brothers were the first missionaries who came and established the Parish in 1946 upon the invitation of the Diocese of Honolulu. The first church building was in an old Japanese language school down at Waialae Avenue just a block away from its present location. In addition was the establishment of the Star of the Sea Elementary, Middle and High School for girls run by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. Twenty years later, the present site was purchased from the Bishop Estates and a new church was constructed. For the next 58 years, the Marist Community faithfully administered the Parish and dedicatedly shared their Marian charism. By 2002, a development project affected the setting of the Parish. The Kahala Nui Senior Assisted Living Community leased one half of the Parish property. Part of the lease agreement for it to construct a new Parish Center that will house the Parish offices, the Elementary School gym, the Early Learning Center, Parish social halls and the Rectory. The said center was constructed and inaugurated in January 2004. As early as 2003, the Diocese of Honolulu through Bishop Francis Di Lorenzo formally invited the American Province of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament to explore the possibility of taking over the administration of Star of the Sea Parish. This was due to the decision of the Marist Community to pull out its priests and religious from its Pacific missions including Hawaii due to lack of personnel. At the same time, the SSS American Province had the same lack of personnel predicament. After negotiations and arrangements, the Philippine Province of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament in collaboration with the American Province decided to take the responsibility of staffing the Parish. One could just wonder how God has painted the subsequent events to match an earlier sign. It is interesting to note that by the entrance lobby of the Church there is a tiled mosaic logo that depicts Mary, the Star of the Sea. The logo consists of a cross embedded on its center with a star, and underneath it are 3 S?s in a form of the waves of the sea. What was meant to be a sign for the Blessed Virgin Mary now became a sign for her Son Jesus. It is as if Mary prepared the parish for the reign of her Son - the cross with the star would depict the monstrance where the Eucharist is exposed. The 3 S?s signifies the initials of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament ? S.S.S. (in Latin: Societas Sanctissimi Sacramenti) that would take the administrative and ministerial duties of the parish. On August 25, 2004, 3 Filipino SSS Religious and 1 American SSS Religious set their foot on the soil of Honolulu. By September 1st 2004 Father Mark U. del Rosario, SSS, as Parish Administrator, Father Gregorio de Guzman, SSS, as Parochial Vicar and Brother Melchor Castaneda, SSS took over the administration of the Parish. Having in their hearts the Eucharistic mission, they began to share Congregation?s charism to make Star of the Sea centered on Jesus, our Eucharistic Lord. As early as January 2005, a team from the Center for Eucharistic Evangelizing came to introduce and share the LITES (Life in the Eucharist Seminar) to the parish. As a follow up, all the lay liturgical ministers serving at Mass and those ministering the Eucharist to the sick went through a three-day seminar on the Eucharist. Formation sessions on the Eucharist were also given to the administration, teachers and staff of the two schools. The SSS Fathers took special care to celebrate with fervor and joy during daily and Sunday celebration of the Mass. The SSS community began to invite the lay to join them at their communal prayers: during their sung morning prayer of the liturgy of the hours, silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament exposed, sung evening prayer and benediction every afternoon. Gradually and slowly, the Blessed Virgin Mary is leading the parishioners to embrace more her Son Jesus who is truly present in the Eucharist. With the arrival of the new Bishop of Honolulu, Bishop Larry Silva formally entrusted Star of the Sea Parish to the Philippine Province of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament. He then installed Father Mark del Rosario, SSS as Pastor on April 5, 2006 and Fr. Anthony Pangan, SSS became the Parochial Vicar. During the past three years, the Blessed Sacrament community is gradually leading the Parish to become a eucharistically centered Parish. The present SSS religious assigned with the Hawaii community are: Fr. Mark U. del Rosario, SSS as Pastor, Fr. Paterno Labasano, SSS as Parochial Vicar and Br. Salvador Yanzon. |
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