On Aug. 20, 1905, Mass was celebrated for the first time for Catholic families in Santa Maria at McMillan's Hall, an opera house, by Father Mathias Ternes, a priest only three years ordained but who gave a rousing sermon about the needs of the newly-established parish named for the town in northwest Santa Barbara County.

A century later to the day, the several thousand families (compared to the 75 or so back then) which now comprise St. Mary of the Assumption Church will celebrate the parish centennial with a Mass and buffet luncheon, beginning at 11 a.m. Santa Barbara Region Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Curry will join with parish priests past and present for the celebration, the high point of the year-long series of festivities.

St. Mary's was founded after citizens of Santa Maria had either traveled to attend Mass at Guadalupe to the west, or much farther to Santa Inés Mission to the south. The San Ramon Chapel in Sisquoc (somewhat closer) was built in the 1879, but it was clear to the priests traveling 40 miles from Santa Inés to perform baptisms, marriages and other services in private homes that Santa Maria needed its own parish.

The first church was completed within a few years of that first Mass in 1905; it was replaced in by a newer, larger structure dedicated in 1959. The school staffed by the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity was completed in 1938; it has been expanded several times since. And in March 1963, the area and parish had grown so large that a new parish, St. Louis de Montfort Church, was created to serve the southern part of the city as well as the community of Orcutt.

The luncheon following the Mass will take place in St. Mary's parish hall. Admission is $10 adults, $7 for children under 12. For information, call (805) 922-5826.