Star of the Sea Painted Church

Hwy 130 to Kalapana, Kaimu, HI 96778

Located on Highway 130 between mile marker 19 and 20.

Contained within the simple green and white exterior is a fine example of the unique and striking of religious folk art of the Hawaiian Islands.

In the early 1900’s, Father Ulrich Taube, SS.CC., built a small wooden church in the growing village Kalapana. Sacred Hearts Father Evarist Gielen, SS.CC., arrived in the Puna region in 1927, and sometime after purchased a small piece of land along the Kalapana shoreline to build a new church near the beach as a mission chapel of Sacred Heart Church in Pahoa. Father Evarist commenced building in 1930 using leftover wood from Sacred Heart and run-down chapels in the area. Within seven months and at a cost of only $2,500, Father Evarist completed the church, along with a small rectory and gymnasium.

The church was solemnly blessed on April 19, 1931 and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Star of the Sea, the patroness of Catholic missions to sailors and seafarers. Stella Maris is a name for the “North Star,” Polaris, which provided navigational direction in antiquity. The name was applied to Mary in the early centuries of the Christian Church as a sign of hope, a guiding star for Christians pointing toward her son Jesus. The Marian prayer, Ave Maris Stella, became a popular devotion during the Middle Ages.

The green and white Colonial Revival church, typical of many other Catholic mission churches on the Islands, features a square tower. Square tower. The interior features Corinthian columns and a barrel-vaulted ceiling composed of three grand sections subdivided by six paintings. On the right side the Death of Ahab, St. Cecilia, and The Mocking of Christ. On the left side: The Death of a Sinner, The Guardian Angel, and Christ the King. The lunette above the door features a twenty-two feet wide and fourteen feet high Nativity scene, the single largest painting in any of Hawaii’s “painted churches.”

On the arch above the altar, four angels carry a ribbon with the Hawaiian words “Maria ka koku O ke kai e pale oe makou,” and the English translation below, “Star of the Sea, pray for us.”

 

Star of the Sea is one of three “painted churches” on the Big Island, including St. Theresa’s in Mountain View, also painted by Father Evarist, and St. Benedict’s in Honaunau by Father John Berchmans Velghe (Father Evarist’s teacher). Father Evarist used house paint mixed with linseed oil to compose the colorful murals throughout the church interior depicting scriptural scenes and devotions based on St. Benedict’s Church and his catechism, Le catechism en images. Father Evarist insisted the primary motive for his paintings was the education of parishioners rather than artistic originality.

The murals took about four and a half months to complete. Father Evarist reportedly spent his nights by candlelight or kerosene lamp painting the chapel, when he could concentrate without disturbance or noise. The upper walls were painted in subdued yet resonant gray and blue tones.

Father Evarist eventually retired to Maui, and over time other artists contributed to the artwork. In 1964, at the invitation of then pastor Father Joseph McGinn, a hitchhiker artist from Athens, Georgia named George Heidler added koa wood Stations of the Cross and brightly colored paintings to the lower walls of the church. However, in 1975, when parishioners invited the retired Father Evarist to visit in celebration of his 50^th priestly anniversary, the historian Father Louis Yim relates that, “A shocking incident took place. Without a word to anyone, the old priest went into the church with a can of light blue paint and covered over Heidler’s painted scenes on the church walls.” Father Evarist spent three months repainting and restoring his 45 year-old murals.

 

In 1978-79, Father Joseph E. Avery commissioned the Hilo artist George Lorch to paint a series of miniaturist murals over Gielen’s light blue paint and blank spaces. Lorch’s work portrays figures and events of Catholic history and devotion including: Fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary in the Hawaiian language, the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima, and two priests of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts. Lorch also painted figures of the native Hawaiian religious past, such as the ancient Tahiti priest Paao; the Fire Goddess, Pele; Kahapu’u, the Prophetess of Puna. Together the paintings form a coherent and complimentary piece. As art historian Alfred Frankenstein notes, Father Evarist’s paintings are still easily discernible as having more chiaroscuro.

In 1984, local artist Stephen Engholm created the etched stained glass windows of Saints Damien of Molokai and Mother Marianne Cope were created in the tower.

The small, sturdy church escaped a number of natural disasters, especially the threat of destructive lava flow from Kilauea volcano. Volcanologists advised the church to relocate after close calls in 1977 and 1986.

In 1990, a disastrous lava flow lasting nearly six months overran many homes in Kalapana and threatened the historic church. On May 4, A Kohala contractor and a few parishioners offered to transport the 22’ by 48’ chapel, including its bell tower and rear sacristy, for free using a flatbed truck to Kaimu, approximately 1.5 miles east. The church temporarily sat on a lot along Highway 130 until May 5, 1996 when it was moved to its present location between mile markers 19 and 20.

Although occasionally Catholic liturgies are still held, the Diocese of Hawaii decommissioned Star of the Sea in 1995 as an active place of worship. Today the church is owned and cared for by the nonprofit Kalapana Ohana Association. The group relies on donations from tourists and visitors to maintain and repair the church. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

Immaculate Conception Church, Ewa

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church

91-1298 Renton Road, Ewa, HI 96706-1913

The historic Immaculate Conception Catholic Church stands along Renton Road on leeward Oahu in Honouliuli.

The first priest to serve in Ewa Plains was the Rev. Raymond Delalande SS.CC., a priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts from Normandy, France. Between 1857 and 1891, Father Delalande traveled by horse throughout his large mission territory, which at that time also included the North Shore and Waianae Coast. During this time, Mass was held in a small chapel in Honouliuli, near Pearl Harbor.

The sugar industry did not take off until the year 1879 when the first artesian well was bored. In 1886, the Ewa Plantation Company was formed. Shortly thereafter, Portuguese, Filipino, and Japanese immigrants arrived to work on the plantations, which included a large number of Catholics. Eventually, a village, called Ewa, formed out of the community around the local sugar mill. In 1891, the community built a cemetery and replaced the dilapidated chapel with another simple structure near the mill.

In the late 1920’s, Bishop Stephen Alencastre, SS.CC., exchanged a piece of land in Honouliuli for the present lot on Renton Road as a new location for a larger church. Father Charles Windels, SS.CC., an energetic and enterprising Belgian priest who had arrived at Ewa in December, 1913, designed, supervised, and greatly contributed to the construction of the Gothic wooden church that stands today. Bishop Alencastre solemnly blessed the church on September 8, 1929, and dedicated it to Mary under the title of Immaculate Conception. Due to his success, Father Windels was shortly thereafter transferred to (now Co-Cathedral) St. Therese of the Child Jesus to carry out a similar building project.

Blessed Sacrament Church, Pauoa

Blessed Sacrament Church, 2124 Pauoa Rd., Honolulu, HI 96813

Blessed Sacrament Church is located in Oahu’s beautiful Pauoa Valley. In 1937, Bishop Stephen Alencastre purchased a piece of land north of Punchbowl to serve as a mission church of Our Lady of Peace Cathedral. The Vicar Delegate Rev. Victorinus Claesen, SS.CC, solemnly blessed the church and installed the first pastor, Father Joseph Verschueren, SS.CC., on December 18, 1938. Blessed Sacrament’s second pastor, Father Gregory Rottier, SS.CC., oversaw construction of the two-story rectory completed in September, 1940.

The church was constructed in the style of the Southern California Catholic missions. The large belfry tower is symbolic of the rock of St. Peter.

The Our Lady of the Valley Shrine prominently stands “as a beacon of inspiration and hope in Pauoa Valley.” The Mendonca family donated the statue of the Virgin Mary in 1952 in honor of Leroy A. Mendonca, whose sacrifice in the Korean War was honored by the Congressional Medal of Honor. The shrine was renovated twice and re-dedicated, respectively, by Rev. Mark Consalvi on October 24, 1992, and Bishop Larry Silva on March 31, 2007.

Malia Puka O Kalani, Keaukaha

326 Desha Avenue, Hilo, HI 96720

Malia Puka O Kalani (Mary, Gate of Heaven) Catholic Church stands in Keaukaha, a 600-acre section of Hilo situated between Hilo Bay and Hilo International Airport.

In 1921, U.S. Congress passed the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, designating portions of land owned by the former Kingdom of Hawaii for Native Hawaiian homesteads. Local Catholics received approval from the Hawaiian Homes Commission in 1928 to establish a Catholic Church in Keaukaha. The Rev. Martin Dornbush, SS.CC., then pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Hilo, assumed responsibility for the development of the new parish.

In 1934, Father Dornbush used lumber from an abandoned chapel in Kaiwiki to construct a large hall in Keaukaha to serve as a temporary worship and community space. A new 120-seat church, dedicated to Mary, Gate of Heaven, was solemnly blessed April 7, 1940.

Today, the parish still preserves traditional Hawaiian culture in its liturgical environment and celebrations.

The sanctuary features the original artwork of Ken Charon and Julianna Ziegler, as well as handcrafted Hawaiian Koa wood furniture, and pieces from New Zealand.

The Painted Church- St. Benedict Catholic Church, Honaunau

84-5140 Painted Church Road, Captain Cook, Hawaii (HI) 96704

St. Benedict Catholic Church has its roots in the small chapel named after St. Francis Regis on the shores of Honaunau Bay near the ancient City of Refuge (Pu’uhonua O Honaunau). The original congregation drew native Hawaiians from fourteen different villages in South Kona. In 1846, Father Joachim Marechal, SS.CC., was assigned as the first priest to serve South Kona as well as the Kau district, where he lived. With Marechal responsible for such a large territory, the congregation in Honanau primarily supported itself by a committed group of native lay catechists who ran a Catholic school and cared for the chapel.

After Father Marechal’s death in 1859, priests of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts regularly served Honaunau while on their circuit in North and South Kona. The first priest assigned full-time pastoral duties at St. Francis Regis Chapel and exclusive care for the Catholics of South Kona was the newly ordained Belgian priest Father Aloys Lorteau, SS.CC., who arrived in 1896. The popular Father Lorteau died from influenza after only two years in 1898.

Father John Berchmans Velghe, SS.CC, a 41-year-old Belgian priest of the Sacred Hearts Congregation, arrived in Honaunau in 1899 to replace Father Lorteau. Prior to coming to Hawaii, Father Velghe had already served missions in Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands.

By the mid 1880’s, most inhabitants of Honaunau had moved inland to the more fertile land along the leeward slopes of the volcanic mountain Mauna Loa. When Father Velghe arrived, he followed his congregation and relocated Saint Francis Regis Chapel piece-by-piece using donkeys two miles toward its present location. After some repairs and additions, including a belfry and lattice entry, the reconstructed church was consecrated in August 1902 by Bishop Gulstan Ropert, SS.CC., and renamed after St. Benedict.

Father Velghe was a self-taught artist and often painted pictures to teach his congregation about Catholic beliefs. Between 1902 and 1904, Velghe painted an array of richly colored murals depicting biblical scenes and the lives of the saints covering the interior wooden walls of St. Benedict’s. Using ordinary house paint, Velghe hoped to emulate the gothic cathedrals of Europe, in particular the vaulted nave of the Burgos Cathedral in Spain.

Soon the “Painted Church” began attracting visitors from all over the Island. Father Velghe also painted the inside of the old stone church of Maria Lanakila (Our Lady of Victory) built in 1860 in Kealia, but the building was destroyed during an earthquake in 1950.

Due to poor health, Father Velghe returned to Belgium in 1904 to teach at the seminary and train future missionaries. One of Velghe’s pupils, a future Hawaiian missionary named Evarist Gielen, later continued the artistic tradition and is responsible for the two other “painted churches” on the island of Hawaii at Star of the Sea in Kalapana and St. Theresa Church in Mountain View.

For the next nine years, a series of priests served short stints in the South Kona region. In 1913, Father Eugene Oehmen, SS.CC., became pastor of St. Benedict’s and the other South Kona churches and held the position until his death in 1951. During his pastorate, Oehmen witnessed four volcanic eruptions and the destruction of a number of chapels in the district.

Oehmen’s death marked the parish’s transition to Diocese of Honolulu’s administration. In August of 1951, Bishop James J. Sweeney appointed the Maryknoll Fathers with the care of St. Benedict’s Church and assigned Father Francis G. Kelliher, M.M., as pastor.

From 1973 to 1985, during the pastorate of Maryknoll Father Ralph W. Sylva, St. Benedict’s added a large social center and undertook a complete renovation of the 82-year-old church structure, including a full restoration of the paintings. Another restoration project occurred during the parish centennial in 2002.

In 1979, Saint Benedict’s Catholic Church was listed on the Hawaii State Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the “Painted Church” remains a popular tourist attraction of the Kona Coast and holds a unique place in the history of American folk art.

Hello world!

This is your very first post. Click the Edit link to modify or delete it, or start a new post. If you like, use this post to tell readers why you started this blog and what you plan to do with it.

Happy blogging!