Great Church very well feeling inside and inspiring. I would definitely recommend this Catholic…read moreChurch.

This is the church I attended in my childhood. It's where I got married. It holds a very special…read moreplace in my heart. I agree with Scott M. that the choir is wonderful and the congregation wants to be there. If I still lived on the North Shore, I'd attend services there more regularly.

The pastor was literally crowd funding during a sermon telling the congregation that Jesus wanted…read morethem to buy the property next door, pressuring people to contribute more than they normally would. He's also gone on incoherent rants about astrology and generally makes no sense. Dude thinks he's a rockstar, but he's really a misguided idiot. Save your brain cells.

My family visited the church a few times. The leadership seamed to be very solid and the community…read morewas very welcoming.

Very welcoming church. Everyone I met there was very friendly. Pastor Matt always has thought…read moreprovoking sermons... Visited on two occasions while in town..

I read the other review about the priest here not being friendly. The problem is not that he's…read moreunfriendly, but that he seems to be angry ... a lot. And judgmental! Also, I don't "get it" when these younger priests (he appears to be under 40) prance around in cassocks and those funny looking hats with the pom poms (can't think of the name of them). I thought the reforms of Vat 2 did away with all that "finery." I'm sure he "means well," but Father, chill, will ya with the ecclesiastical drag. And it's not the local pastor's fault, but what is it with this new translation of the Mass? I'm sure the sentence structure was fine in Latin, but in English is awkward at best and not understandable at its worst. I see it as a sign of the creeping exlusionary policies of the RC church. We sing "All are Welcome," but we mean "Some, but not All, are Welcome." We used to be regular attendees at St. Mary's back in the 80's and 90's, (my wife and I both went to the school through 8th grade) but we started going to the Paulist Center in Boston when St. Mary's took a 180 degree turn in 1997 back to the 19th century. We go to St. Mary's when we cannot get into Boston or we go to the Unitarian meeting house a few steps away where we know we are not going to get a political barage about contraception and same sex marriage, but will be accepted where we are.

St. Mary's is such a beautiful church, it's worth a visit even if you aren't Catholic. I attended…read moreweekly mass there for a few months last summer, and Fr. Chateau was always so friendly. Also, Fr. Barnes is a truly wonderful confessor!

A very warm inviting parish! You only have to enter the doors ONCE to know you are in a special…read moreplace.

Father Ron is the worst priest I have ever encountered in my life. He tried to cut off a son's…read moreeulogy of his mother during her funeral, proclaimed to the whole church he was walking out, yelled at the congregation confrontationally, and then proceeded to patronize those in the church throughout the mass. He made disgustingly degrading comments about the community of Lawrence, MA and disrespected the deceased's career working there for over 30 years. He proceeded to reprimand parishioners about how they received communion at the funeral and yell at several of them. All of this occurred after he yelled at the family of the deceased prior to the service because they were "taking up too much space". He also locked the doors before the start of the ceremony so no one else could enter. Lastly, he forbid flowers the family sent from being allowed in the church. I have never seen such disgusting behavior from someone who proclaims to be a member of the clergy and should be sharing the word of God. He should be beyond ashamed of his behavior and disgusted with his actions. My entire family was baptized and married at the Star of the Sea Church, along with several communions and confirmations. And I can confidently say I will never return to this church.

Yiassou! I really enjoyed the October 2008 Greek festival at St. Vasilios in Peabody. It was the…read morefirst time that I made the effort to drive to St. Vasilios for any reason. The enormous white-clapboard church definitely looks WASP New England, which it formerly probably was. There is a huge social hall/community center attached to the church. The community is active, loving, family-oriented and welcoming to newcomers. Unfortunately, the church was already locked up for the evening so I didn't have a chance to see the interior and light a candle. Next time. I was happy that the festival was indoors, with a good dance floor, not broken-up parking lot asphalt. I also liked the fact that it was in October after most of the other Greek festivals were over. The food and pastries were terrific, made by the parishioners. The Makredes Ensemble has got to be the best Greek-American dance band in New England. I enjoyed their variety of dance music as well as the fact that they didn't drag on for 20 minutes with each kalamatiano, the Greek national folk dance that gets everyone up and moving. The Pontian Dance Group (from the Black Sea area) and their musicians were great. Their dance performances and native costumes were really well done. I appreciated the fact that they came back to the floor and taught their native dances to the festival goers. I also really appreciated seeing so many dancers (mostly non-Greek) from the Dance New England folk dance group--they really were some of the best dancers on the floor! They give such energy to the festival. I was only sorry that the dancing began so late (8:00pm) and that I had to leave at 10:00pm. I swear that some of the dancers who are Italian have Greek blood from their southern Italian ancestors. I was also impressed at how many people, especially men, were dancing and packing the floor! So much kefi! At too many of the festivals this year, there were very few people dancing, and even fewer men of any age. Only one thing annoyed me: the greasy smell of frying loukoumades (Greek fried dough which I love) permeated the air and made my clothes smell dreadfully for a couple of days afterward. THAT is one of the advantages of an outdoor festival--the frying loukoumades can be situated far from the action. It was a great festival overall and a wonderful way to end the 2008 Greek festival season. Kai tou xronou!

Beautiful church- Father Chris is friendly, warm and kind. We enjoy decorating the church every…read moreyear.