Balaklava
St Andrew’s Catholic Church
Parish Priest: Fr. Mark Sexton
Address
13 Baker Street, Balaklava SA 5461
Church Services
Please note that the service may be a Mass or Liturgy of the Word with Communion. Occasionally services may vary, depending on priest availability.
Weekday Mass
2nd Wed of the month 9.00am
1st, 3rd, 4th & 5th Sundays
10.30am
2nd Sunday
9.00am
History
The foundation stone for the church was laid in 1889. The church was extended to include the present sanctuary and sacristy in 1910. The church was named after St. Andrew the apostle and brotherof St. Peter, the first Pope. Initially a disciple of St. John the Baptist, he became the first disciple of Jesus. St. Andrew went to Greece to preach the gospel. He is said to have been put to death on a diagonal cross to which he was tied, not nailed. He lived several days in that state of suffering, still preaching to the people, who gathered around their beloved disciple. Two countries have chosen St. Andrew as their patron saint – Scotland and Russia. The official national flag of Scotland is known as The Saltire which means a cross with diagonal bars of equal length.
It is made up of a white cross on a blue background. First hoisted in 1512, it is believed to be one of the oldest flags in the world still in use today. In 2010 Balaklava church was merged into what is now known as St. Mary of the Cross McKillop Northern Light Parish, comprising churches/mass centres from Balaklava, Port Wakefield, Mallala, Hamley Bridge, Kapunda, Nuriootpa, Freeling and Tarlee. St. Mary was chosen as our patron due to the involvement of the Josephites in so many communities in the region. We were the first parish in South Australia to take St. Mary, Australia’s first saint as a patron.
