About Our Lady Star of the Sea (St. Christopher Parish) · Long Island, Maine
Our Lady Star of the Sea is a small Roman Catholic mission church on Long Island in Casco Bay, Maine, part of the Portland Peninsula & Island Parishes cluster in the Diocese of Portland. It serves as a mission of St. Christopher Parish on Peaks Island, offering Catholics on the island a quiet harbor of worship year-round, with a Saturday vigil Mass added during the summer months. The mission gives the island's small year-round and seasonal Catholic community a regular place to gather for Sunday Mass and the sacraments without the trip to the mainland.
- Patron
- Our Lady Star of the Sea (Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title Star of the Sea / Stella Maris)
- Rector
- Very Rev. Seamus Griesbach (pastor of the Portland Peninsula & Island Parishes cluster, which includes this mission)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Portland in Maine
Why belong here
Our Lady Star of the Sea gives Long Island's Catholics — both year-round residents and the many summer visitors — a home parish without leaving the island. The community gathers for Sunday Mass every week and adds a Saturday evening vigil during the summer, so families and seasonal residents can keep holy the Sabbath no matter the season. As part of the Portland Peninsula & Island Parishes, the mission connects islanders to a wider island-Catholic community, faith formation, RCIA, youth ministry, and the outreach work of St. Christopher Parish on Peaks Island.
Mass times at Our Lady Star of the Sea (St. Christopher Parish)
Weekly Mass schedule
About Our Lady Star of the Sea Mission
Our Lady Star of the Sea is a small Catholic mission church serving Long Island, a year-round and seasonal island community in Casco Bay, Maine. The mission belongs to the Portland Peninsula & Island Parishes cluster and is officially a mission of St. Christopher Parish on Peaks Island, which supplies priests to celebrate Mass and care for the island's Catholics.
- Type: Mission church
- Parent parish: St. Christopher, Peaks Island
- Cluster: Portland Peninsula & Island Parishes
- Diocese: Diocese of Portland in Maine
- Address: 8 Beach Avenue, Long Island, ME 04050
Clergy & Pastoral Care
Pastoral care for the mission is provided by the priests and deacon of the Portland Peninsula & Island Parishes, who also serve St. Christopher Parish on Peaks Island and the other peninsula & island parishes in the cluster.
- Pastor: Very Rev. Seamus Griesbach
- Parochial Vicar: Rev. Paul R. Marquis
- Rev. Sylvester Nwaokolo, OP
- Deacon Michael B. Augustino
Parish Cluster & Parent Parish
Our Lady Star of the Sea is one of the island and peninsula parishes clustered together by the Diocese of Portland, with St. Christopher Parish on Peaks Island as its parent parish. St. Christopher itself was established in 1923 to serve Peaks Island's growing summer Catholic community, was built in a mission-style with timberwork, and celebrated its centennial in 2023.
- St. Christopher Parish (parent): 15 Central Avenue, Peaks Island, ME 04108
- Portland Peninsula & Island Parishes cluster
- St. Christopher centennial celebrated July 23, 2023 with Bishop Robert Deeley
Faith Formation & Ministries
As a small mission with no resident priest, faith-formation programming is delivered through the parent parish and the Portland Peninsula & Island Parishes cluster, including sacramental preparation and ministry to youth and adults.
- RCIA / OCIA (Becoming Catholic)
- Youth Ministry / Youth Group