Our Lady Star of Sea School and parish celebrates 175 years

By BEN PLUMMER

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Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish and its school are celebrating a major milestone in 2023, marking its 175th anniversary.

As part of one of the oldest Catholic parishes in New Zealand, Our Lady Star of the Sea School is one of the oldest schools in New Zealand and has a rich history in Howick, residing on three different sites over its 175-year span.

Originally the school was opened on the same site as the parish church on Howick’s Picton Street in 1847.

In 1925, Bishop Cleary invited the Sisters of Mercy to open an orphanage on Granger Road in Cockle Bay, where they also operated the school. It finally settled at its current location on Oakridge Way in 1996 in order to meet the growing demands of Catholic education in the area.

“It’s a really rich history and there are a lot of beautiful stories to share and celebrate,” says principal Louise Campbell.

Campbell says the school has many students whose parents and grandparents attended in previous years.

“The opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate that this parish community with its school is home for people is a very special thing. It’s something that’s quite fantastic,” Campbell says. While there is some confusion about the exact date that the parish and its school were opened in 1848, they have decided to make the whole year a 175 celebration.

Parish Priest Rev Fr.

John Fitzmaurice says while Our Lady Star of the Sea School is located five kilometres away from the Parish Church on Picton Street, the school is at the heart of parish life.

In March, to begin the year of celebrations, the Parish School hosted a combined Sunday Mass and parish picnic, where around 700 people attended.

“When everyone was there, we all agreed that this is what Covid has robbed us of over the past few years, the opportunity to get together in these ways,” says Campbell.

The big celebration of the year, however, will be held over five days from Friday, August 11, to Tuesday, August 15, with the Parish hosting events both in the church on Picton Street and at the school in unison.

August 15, traditionally known as the Assumption of Mary in the Church, is celebrated as the parish and school feast day every year and refers to the day that the Blessed Virgin Mary was taken into heaven.

Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Auckland Stephen Lowe will also be leading the 175th anniversary Sunday Mass at 9am on August 13 to honour the milestone for the parish and its school.

Other events such as a formal luncheon, picnic and school open day will be features of the extended weekend of celebrations. The parish and school websites have full details of the celebration events.

“We’re using the five days as an opportunity to not only look back on our history but also to look forward. After what both the school and parish have been through over the past few years with lockdowns and restrictions, it’s really a beautiful thing that we are able to do this now,” says Fitzmaurice. People will be coming from far and wide to celebrate the weekend in the community, including families of those buried at the parish cemetery.

“You often find that people who have now gone to other places in New Zealand or even overseas, when they get to hear of a weekend like this, it’s home,” says Fitzmaurice.

More than 300 students currently attend Our Lady Star of the Sea School and around 800 people attend Sunday Mass in the parish church.

“175 years is not huge in human terms, but for our history it is and we’re very aware of that,” Fitzmaurice says.

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Pioneer Priest And His Legacy

Antoine Marie Garin was a French Roman Catholic priest, missionary and educationalist. He was born in Rambert-en-Bugey, France on July 23, 1810 and ministered in Auckland, Northland and, most notably, in Nelson. He came to Howick 175 years ago.

He died in 1889 and was buried in Nelson.

Garin College, a Catholic co-educational College formed in 2002 in Nelson, is named after him.

The school’s website notes: “Garin came to New Zealand in 1841 and for the next 40 years Garin contributed hugely to the development of education in the area. In Nelson, he was responsible for education early in Nelson’s history and opened orphanages for both girls and boys as early as 1872. Father Garin’s legacy lives on today through the Churches that he built and in the Catholic Schools of the area - St Joseph’s Primary School and our College (Garin College).”

The Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington says of the pioneer: “Following his death on April 14, 1889, Fr Garin was buried in a temporary grave in Nelson’s Wakapuaka cemetery; the whole district wanted to build a memorial chapel over his remains.

“The body was disinterred 18 months later and found to be completely intact, though the vestments had rotted. It is now buried under heavy concrete in the chapel’s crypt.”