Our Parish History...Building a Church Community!
Founded in 1974, Stella Maris is a Roman Catholic Church within the Archdiocese of Kingston, Jamaica. The name Stella Maris is the latin translation for “Star of the Sea”. This designation was used to emphasize Mary's role as a sign of hope and as a guiding star for Christians.
In 1963, the Legion of Mary from the Holy Cross parish in Kingston, together with their moderator, Fr. Gerrard Curley, started a mission in Grants Pen at 5 Morgan’s Lane. They would gather the children every Monday evening for one hour at 5 p.m. to teach about the Catholic faith. Each week, the group grew and after about 4 months, Fr. Curley decided that exposure to a Mass was important.
He consulted Bishop Carter and permission was granted to use the New Day Primary school to host a Mass, which was held on Sundays at 8:00 a.m. Members of the Holy Cross parish, who lived in the Norbrook area, such as Dotty Phillibert and her family and the Delvailles, started attending this Mass, along with the children and mothers from Grants Pen. This became routine for 4 years.
After consistently hosting Mass at New Day Primary, it became necessary to build a church in the area since the classrooms at New Day were no longer adequate. Bishop Carter and Bishop McEleney agreed to look for possible locations...Read More