About Our Parish
CORNER STONE OF NEW CHURCH PLACED
One of the most impressive and interesting events that has taken place in East Maui was that of last Sunday afternoon when the corner stone of the new Catholic Church at Upper Paia was laid. The Rev. Bishop Stephen made a special trip from Honolulu for the occasion and officiated assisted by the Rev. Father James, Otto, Maurice, Englebert, and Jules and the Brothers of Mary from Wailuku sang the psalms.
In the corner stone a hole about eight inches deep was cut in which was fitted a brass box that was later sealed with solder then cemented over. In that box were placed a list of names of all those who pledged to give money for the building and all those who contributed, church documents, and coins of all nations and copies of Maui News. The affair was attended by people from all over Maui. The church
Will rank as one of Maui’s’ finest churches and will be completed sometime in the summer.
Gothic Design Features New Church In Paia
Art Glass Windows For Catholic Edifice Are Being Manufactured by Famous Belgium Maker.
The Catholic Church at Paia now under construction will be completed in September. The corner stone was laid in February the fourteenth, with impressive ceremonies con-ducted by Rev. bishop Stephen of Honolulu, and assisted by Father Jule Pastor of the Church. Since Thursday the work has rushed ahead under the able direction of the contractor M. Fukuchi and the main building is nearing completion
The Ridge of the rooftop will be about 40 feet above the nave. The nave extending from the entrance will be 84 feet long. The roof will be finished in an elastic graphic leaf design and is supported by seven arches. The bell tower will be 30 feet above the roof and in turn will be surmounted by a cross.
The windows now being made in Belgium will be of special imprinted “Verre Antique,” designed by M. Barry a famous stained glass maker in Belgium The Windows are the gifts of different members of the congregation and will add greatly to the artistic atmosphere of the interior.
Father Charles, well known on Maui, has presented the large window in the gable above the entrance in memory of his mother.
The name Holy Rosary Church is the same as that of the old Kuau church which thee new edifice will replace.
The Holy Rosary Church at Kuau has stood for over 40 years and been a well known land mark on Maui silhouetted against the sky and sea always a friendly beacon to those on land and ocean it belongs to the pioneer age of Maui when so much had to be accomplished with so little help and so little money. Rev Father James Bissel the builder constructed it with his own hands assisted by two willing but unskilled Hawaiian boys. Father James was a missionary in the highest sense, and like those other Maui pioneers with undauntable courage and determination accomplished the almost impossible.
Now his church borer riddled and falling to pieces is very fittingly replaced by this new and more beautiful namesake in Paia. Father Jules and those who have helped him deserve much credit for their untiring efforts in surmounting difficulties innumerable and for holding to his ideal of building a church all Maui will be proud of.
The cost of this church will be $35,000 approximately.
Plans were drawn by architect T. Yoshikawa
The unusual feature of this church is that it is of fireproof construction though out. Walls, altar railings, choir loft, trusses, belfry, and roof are all of concrete. Window sashes are to be steel. Pews and doors alone will be wood.
Brothers Building Altars For Church On Paia Hillside
It is pretty well known that Holy Rosary Church in Paia will be dedicated the third Sunday in February by Rev. Bishop Stephen; but it is not generally known that the construction of the altars, the wood work in the sanctuary and the renovation of the statues that will adorn the altar are being done by two masters who have dedicated their lives to service in religion.
Yet that is just what is going on in the edifice that now caps the hill just opposite to the Paia Public School. Painters are working on the interior, and they are like so many manikins perched high up among the arches that adorn the ceiling of the Gothic structure.
List of Services
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Brothers At workList Item 1
Far up in the arms of the cross, for the church is cruciform designed, is the sanctuary. Three steps lead up to the altar railing and in the center of the sanctuary is being erected a beautiful hardwood altar. The table and a portion of the back are completed and some of the ornamentation on the face of the altar is completed.
At first glance one would not pay much attention to anything except the impressive dimensions of the building, with its lofty arched ceilings, its high walls, its seating capacity for 400 persons and its strict adherence to the Gothic style of architecture. Still and all there is a story there, a story of human sacrifice, of a work of love, and a tale of man’s devotion to an ideal.
About the sanctuary two workmen were industriously laboring. Both were of impressive physique, wore long beards and seemed to know what they were about.
One of these, the newspaperman approached and asked when the church would be completed. One question led to another and it finally developed that the two workmen were members of the Brothers of the Sacred
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Know their BusinessList Item 2
Every piece of wood in the beautifully designed altars was cut by them, the altars were designed by them and no other hands then theirs will touch the woodwork of the sanctuary. They will also design and make the Stations of the Cross that will adorn the sidewalls of the church.
In the old church at Kuau, the one that has served the Catholic population for many years, there were many beautifully wood carved statues. Today these statues are worth their weight in gold and they are to be placed on the altar and in the sanctuary of the new church edifice.
When the brother took them down from their places in the old building they found that the termites had worked havoc with them and some of the woodwork crumbled in the hand when touched. Brother Sylvester has subjected every piece of wood carving to a gasoline bath of day’s duration. The decayed portions of the statues are being replaced with carved hardwood and enameled. They will not look like old statues on the new altar, because skilled hands are renovating them.
Holy Rosary Church in Paia will look beautiful when the stained glass windows from Belgium arrive and are put in place, but the most beautiful part of the edifice will be the sanctuary, fitted and prepared by the brothers who have dedicated their skill to the cause of religion.
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New Church of Holy Rosary Dedicated Sunday, Feb. 20thList Item 3
Dedication ceremonies for the new Church of the Holy Rosary at Paia will be held one week from tomorrow, Sunday February 20; it is learned from Father Jules who gives the following information as to the plans.
Bishop Stephen will be over for the occasion and there will be a Pontifical High Mass at 10 o’clock, plantation time. He will be assisted by Father James, deacon and Father Maurice, sub-deacon, Father Evarist will be master of ceremonies and Father Bartholomew will be in charge of the service boys. Father Jules will direct the choir, 25 girls whom he has trained. They will sing Battman’s Convent Mass. Following the Pontifical High Mass and dedicatory ceremonies there will be held a luau and fair and proceeds of which will go to the church.
The beautiful sanctuary group has been received and placed but the windows, imported from Brussels are not yet here, though they are in Honolulu. Father Jules had hoped that they would be installed but has been unable to put through the arrangements for their shipment here with the customs department there, though the duty on them is ready for payment. Otherwise the edifice is complete and ready for the holding of the regular church services.
A description of the new church recently appeared in Maui News.
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