On Sunday, September 27, Star of the Sea Parish will celebrate our patronal feast of Our Lady, Star of the Sea (Stella Maris) at all Sunday Masses.
A special procession honoring Our Lady will take place during the 9:30 AM Mass. Parishioners and families are warmly invited to participate and to bring flowers for Our Lady as a sign of love and devotion.

In 1888, that part of San Francisco which would become Star of the Sea parish was mostly sand dunes and Irish horse farms. These Irish wanted a church of their own rather than having to travel several miles to St. Patrick’s church downtown. They loved Our Lady, and they were close to the ocean, so they asked the bishop to name their little mission church “Star of the Sea.”

In 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge was completed, linking Star of the Sea parish with the mainland, and so a second “Star of the Sea” church was built on the other side of the Bridge, in Sausalito. The San Francisco parish boundaries cover the southern half of the Bridge, and the Sausalito parish boundaries cover the northern half. Both parishes pray for the 150,000 people who cross the Bridge every day, and our parish offers a Mass every First Friday for the 1800 souls who have committed suicide from the Golden Gate Bridge.

We beg Our Lady, Star of the Sea, to guide all these people home to Jesus, and to guide all of us as we make our way through the storms of life. “If the winds of temptation arise,” wrote St. Bernard, “if you are driven upon the rocks of tribulation, or tossed by the waves of pride, of ambition, of rivalry or envy, look to the star; call on Mary.”