Gothic revival masterpiece throws open its door to Jubilee pilgrims
Gothic revival masterpiece throws open its door to Jubilee pilgrims
Published 18 February 2025 (edited version)
It’s shaping up to be a huge year for St Mary’s Star of the Sea in West Melbourne. The magnificent neo-gothic church is marking 125 years since its official opening in February 1900 and is an official Jubilee 2025 pilgrimage destination for the Archdiocese of Melbourne.
In fact, parish priest Fr Andrew Paris says while it is timely that the Holy Year is also a milestone year for the church, the designation of St Mary’s as a Pilgrim Place is the special celebration.
‘It’s designation as a Pilgrim Place is a recognition of its role as a centre of social justice and community outreach.’
Every day is a celebration for those who receive.
Fr Andrew says many of the pilgrims will be new visitors to the church, joining regular parishioners in benefitting from the graces, or indulgences, made available to Catholics during the Jubilee Year.
‘The indulgences help people in their Christian life,’ Fr Andrew explains, ‘when they present to pray and offer up for departed people they love.’
One of St Mary’s contributions as a Pilgrim Place, he says, is the many opportunities it offers pilgrims to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation—before and after the twice daily weekday Masses, as well as weekday evenings and multiple times on weekends.
‘Every day is special,’ he says, when the sacraments—Mass and Reconciliation—are offered so many times a day.
‘In a sense, the whole purpose of the Jubilee Year is that it’s a coming back to Christ,’ he says, ‘and for that, the sacrament of Reconciliation is a necessary step. That’s what being a Pilgrim Place is really all about.’
St Mary’s is the largest parish church in the country, of any denomination, and boasts what the church’s website calls an ‘elaborate high Victorian gothic-revival interior’.
The original design of St Mary’s was by a relatively unknown young architect, Edgar Henderson, while much of the interior is attributed to Phillip Kennedy, the architect who took over from Henderson during the construction.
Most of the original interior remains. The walls had been painted over but were carefully restored in the early 2000s to expose glorious murals and stencilling.
Fr Andrew is quick to point out that the beauty of the building is not an end in itself but hopefully a way into a deeper relationship with God. He says that a focus of his pastoral care—particularly for those married in the church—is helping people to continue on a journey of faith beyond their initial delight in the physical beauty of St Mary’s.