By Christina Gray
Local Catholic families sat on wood planks facing a makeshift altar for the first Mass at Our Lady of Angels Parish in 1926. One hundred years later, hand-carved pews were filled to capacity as the Burlingame parish marked a century of faith, family and Franciscan stewardship in a Sept. 13 Mass celebrated by Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone.
“They came purely for the sake of preaching the Gospel, of planting the seeds of faith,” the archbishop said in his homily of the Irish Capuchin Franciscans (Franciscan Order of Friars Minor), who came to Burlingame at the behest of Archbishop Edward Joseph Hanna.
‘A big, broad vision’
The Capuchin Franciscans responded with “a big, broad vision,” the archbishop said, to the call to establish a parish in the growing outpost of San Francisco. The founding friars left Ireland knowing they would likely not live to see the end result of their labors nor see their families or homeland again. “Essentially they did it all for the glory of God,” he said.
Today, the parish, named for the patroness of the Western Province of Capuchin Franciscans, is the spiritual home to more than 2,400 families. The school has nurtured the faith of generations of young Catholics, including that of Cardinal Robert W. McElroy. The city-block-sized parish property includes the mission-style church built in 1950, Our Lady of Angels School (K-8) and pre-school, a sports and multipurpose hall, a rectory, and a residence for elderly or infirm Capuchin friars.
Concelebrating the Mass was Our Lady of Angels Parish’s beloved pastor of 27 years, Father Michael Mahoney, OFM.Cap; and associate pastors Father Peter Eugenio, OFM.Cap; and Father Joyson Thomas, OFM.Cap. Deacons Chris Mariano, Mark Scafidi and Tom Kramer, served on the altar, and Father Kyle Faller was master of ceremonies.
The parish as it is today “could not have happened without the wise pastoral leadership of the Capuchin Franciscan friars,” said the archbishop, who acknowledged the large group of Capuchins, young and old, seated to the left of the altar. The group included Father Brian McKenna, Father Miguel Angel Ortiz, Father Gerald Barron, Father Harold Snider, Father Tony Marti, Father Peter Eugenio, Father Donal Burke and Father Julian Gonzalez-Montenegro. Behind them representing a new generation of friars was a row of Capuchin postulants.
The archbishop acknowledged that the Capuchin Franciscans, “didn’t do it alone.” It took clergy, religious and lay faithful “all living the Christian virtues of solidarity and stewardship to build the parish up to what it is today,” he said.
The Gospel readings, Matthew 18:21-22, and Matthew 18:23-35 centered on “unlimited forgiveness,” and repentance as expressed in the Lord’s Prayer.
“You reap what you sow,” the archbishop said. A community also reaps what it sows. “A lot has been sown here at Our Lady of Angels.”
Humble beginnings
The Capuchin Fathers began their ministry by purchasing an empty lot, a cottage and a school building with a loan for $35,000. The old school building served as a simple parish church for nearly 25 years after the parish’s first Mass on December 19, 1926. The cottage was converted into classrooms for a parish school, which opened in 1927 with five grades staffed by the Sisters of Mercy.
In 1950, the much larger present church was built, a welcome milestone as the parish census had jumped to more than 1,000 families by the time of its completion. School enrollment increased in the late 1950s to early 1960s, and the school expanded to its current size, serving 300 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The Our Lady of Angels School of Religion serves children in kindergarten through eighth grade who attend public or non-Catholic private schools.
In a touching close to the Mass, Father Mahoney expressed gratitude to his Capuchin Franciscan predecessors, Archbishop Cordileone, the Archdiocese of San Francisco, and the parish itself.
“I’m personally privileged to have served here for so many years,” he said. “I stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before me and done so much to make our community what it is today.”
He expressed particular thanks on behalf of elderly and/or infirm Capuchin Franciscan friars living at Our Lady of Angels.
“I am so happy that we are able to have our senior Capuchin men here who have worked tirelessly as priests and preachers over the years,” he said. “Now, we have a home for them in our friary here, and so much of it is due to your generosity.”
He also expressed gratitude for the Sisters of Mercy, who taught at the school until 1996, as well as the centennial and hospitality committees who planned an after-Mass reception in the parish’s St. Francis Garden.
‘Providence and synchronicity’
Parishioner Phil Vogel, leader of the centennial committee, commented on “the remarkable sense of providence and synchronicity” in Our Lady of Angels celebrating its centennial the same year San Francisco marks its 250th anniversary, and the Church commemorates the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis.
“Archbishop Cordileone and I both reflected on how extraordinary it is that all of these moments come together at the same time,” he told Catholic San Francisco.
After the Mass, a reception in the St. Francis Garden courtyard offered food, music, and fellowship. A representative presented a framed proclamation of gratitude to the parish for its contributions to the region from the California Legislature Assembly.
Parishioner Laura Elmore said that the Capuchin charisms of prayer, fraternity and service to 10 outside nonprofits “set a strong tone for parish and school life.”
Rosie Vazquez, a 30-year parishioner, walked arm-in-arm with her sister-in-law, Martina Vazquez, also a longtime parishioner, up the leafy, suburban streets near the parish. Music and happy voices from the centennial reception still filled the air.
“The thing we love about this parish is the community,” said Rosie.
Learn more at ola.community and capuchinswest.org.
