The Downey Patriot

Columns

Faith in Downey – OLPH/St. Raymond’s

If the Catholic Church had a recipe, it would ask for a great amount of Scripture, a dash of prayer and a pinch of worship.

For over two-thousand years the Catholic Church has basked in tradition, holding steadfast in Spirit and beauty. And it’s a good chance that at some point in your life, you have stopped and gawked at a breath-taking Catholic church, usually complimented by vaulted ceilings, golden crucifixes, stained-glass windows, wooden pews, and the smell of incense and anointing oils.

In the past 100 years, Downey has seen not one, but two, very prominent – and beautiful – Catholic churches thrive amongst our community.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH) – originally named St. Anthony Church – was Downey’s first Catholic church and has been here since 1908. The triangular lot – bound by Downey Avenue, Fifth Street and New Street – was purchased from Downey Land and Improvement Association by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Monterey and Los Angeles following a growth in Catholic population in Downey.

Currently, OLPH’s congregation consists of 3,500 families. They average 80 weddings and 60 funerals a year and thus far, in 2007, there have been 156 First Communions and 97 Confirmations.

OLPH holds Mass at 8:15 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday, 6:30 a.m., 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Sunday, and 8:15 a.m. daily.

Since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the church has hosted a Blue Mass, honoring and praying for the safety and protection of men and women in blue uniforms, both in Downey and nationwide. Each year, Downey’s Fire and Police Chiefs are in attendance, as well as many pastors from surrounding churches.

OLPH will also be hosting a year of festivities celebrating their Centennial, beginning October of next year. St. Raymond’s, which has been in Downey since 1956, just finished their year of festivities, celebrating 50 years.

St. Raymond’s was established in order to give the Catholic community in Downey another parish to attend, eliminating crowding at OLPH.

The same day Downey was incorporated as a city in September of 1957, was the same day the doors to St. Raymond’s school were opened. The school will be celebrating 50 years of operation this weekend at their Homecoming Festival.

St. Raymond’s offers a variety of ministries including a thriving Spanish ministry, a Life Teen program that caters to the community’s youth, a health ministry that provides assistance and support to patients, a golf tournament that raises money for the church’s orphanage in Mexico, and much more.

Their congregation is 2,800 families strong, with an average Sunday morning Mass ranging from 150 to 700 people in attendance, depending on the time of the Mass.

In appearance, St. Raymond’s does not share the same grandeur as OLPH. But as Rev. John Higgins would put it, “our church is only beautiful when people are in it.”

When it comes to doctrine, all Catholic churches follow the Holy Bible and the Leccionary, a book produced by the Catholic Church that includes daily readings, making every Mass the same globally. For example, what will be taught and read this upcoming Sunday at St. Raymond’s and OLPH will be exactly the same as what is taught and read at a Catholic church, let’s say, in Rome.

And although there are many similar beliefs shared between Catholics and Protestants – two being they both believe in the Holy trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and follow the Holy Bible – there are also many practices that differentiate the two.

Rev. Mark Warnstedt of OLPH said the five biggest differences include the involvement of the Virgin Mary, the meaning of the Eucharist (Communion), the practice of Sacraments, the structure of the Catholic Church and the interceding of Saints.

“Because Mary is the mother of the Savior, we take pride in her because she said yes to God’s plan to give birth to Jesus,” said Warnstedt. “She is capable of interceding on our behalf, which is why we pray to her.

“We take the Bible literally at times and in John 6, when Jesus is partaking in the last supper, he says his flesh is real food and his blood is real drink,” explained Warnstedt. “So we believe the Eucharist to be a literal partaking of the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ, rather than symbolic.

“The Catholic church practices seven Sacraments,” said Warnstedt. “One of those Sacraments is the Sacrament of Penance – forgiveness of sins by a priest. We believe that the Sacraments represent a direct encounter with God and because priests are chosen to be representatives of God and have the power of Jesus instilled in us, the forgiveness we impart on people is not from us, but rather from God. We are just the physical representation of the forgiveness imparted.

“The structure of the Catholic Church is that of a hierarchy. We believe there is a direct line from Jesus Christ all the way down to our current Pope. All of our Popes can be traced back to Peter, who was a disciple of Christ. Because of that lineage, we give the Pope, who we believe to be infallible in faith and morals, more power within the Church.

“Lastly, we ask the Saints – human beings who exemplified the Lord while they were alive – to intercede our prayers. We feel that they have the power and ability to pray for us as well.”

Regardless of the differences one church may have from another, it is evident that the Catholic Church thrives to serve God and the community. Both St. Raymond’s and OLPH are rich in tradition and wealthy in knowledge.

For information on either church, contact St. Raymond’s at (562) 923-4509 or Our Lady of Perpetual Help at (562) 923-3246