St. Andrew Catholic Church

We were married here last year and the secretary and staff was very unhelpful. The Secretary messed up my marriage license, but I had to pay for the changes. And then she refused to send it back to the la county office. She sounds like she hates her job and refuses to answer emails and hates answering the phone. When I called just to check in on the status she sounds like it’s too much work and does not want to do it. It has been over six months and no license yet but I paid all the fees to get married there. Which was not cheap. The church is beautiful but honestly not worth it if the people who are supposed to help hate their job and hate helping the people there.

Wonderful Catholic Church, sound teachings and great community!

I called in regards to booking this church for my wedding. I was told I had to attend an information night that is only held once a month. When I called to speak to Luci Santos, I’m assuming the wedding coordinator, she was very rude.
I called out of courtesy to notify that I would be unable to attend the information night and asked one question, «how much does it cost to book a wedding ceremony?»
She rudely replied, «That’s what the information session is for.»
Why would I wait another month to look for church locations only because a price can not be given over the phone. Plus, why would I bother looking into a church if it’s out of my budget.
These people are a waste of time and I am very upset. I’m happy I wasn’t looking forward to being married at this church. Definitely will NOT be following up!

My husband and I came across this church and it is so beautiful! We were looking for beautiful churches in the area to get married in and we found it. We went to a wedding information night held by Luci Santos. She was so helpful with everything!
Whenever we had questions she knew what we needed and helped us right away. She returned our phone calls, emails, let us know what we needed as our wedding day approached and was so on top of everything. I asked my friend who got married there a couple of years ago about the process and she told me if I had any problems at all to just ask Luci because she was so helpful and she was right. Any of my friends who are engaged ask me about this church and I tell them to just ask for Luci and go to the wedding information session and all of their questions could be answered there. Also, my husband is not even catholic and she said that was not a problem. She was so accommodating! She just has a bubbly, friendly personality which is so needed when planning a wedding.

If I could give zero or negative 5 star, I would, for ruining my wedding. And below is why:
My fiancé and I asked for the availability of our wedding date and time a month ago, and we were told the date and time were available. So, we went to the information night and followed up the very next day with the event manager Luci Santos to set a meeting to lock the date/​time. She postponed our meeting 4~5 times, and finally cancelled our meeting last minute and didn’t get back to us till another week later. Today, a month passed by from the initial contact, my fiancé finally got hold of her again, and she told us the date/​time was booked. We were shocked and asked her how that could happen since we were told by her a month earlier that the date/​time was still available, especially she was the one kept postponing and cancelling our meetings for a month. Then she said that the slot was booked last November. Does it mean she lied to us at the beginning when we asked her several times if the date/​time was available? I specifically remember after a few postpones I wanted to confirm again if the date/​time was still available. She put me on hold, and then told me yes. Was she lying then again as well? I guess the time we took off from work to attend the information night is wasted and also the least of her concerns.
Not to mention the entire process of dealing with her is painful since it was extremely hard to get hold of her and get her to commit to a meeting, considering I’m a very patient person according to many others. I almost felt that it was because I’m a non-​Catholic Chinese so she didn’t want my fiancé who’s a Catholic and I to get married there so she made the process really hard so we could back out ourselves. And then she finally just made our date/​time unavailable to leave us no choice but not to get married there.
Our wedding is at the beginning of January. Now we have wasted the valuable one month without looking elsewhere, and anyone who has planned a wedding will know how precious the one month is! Especially we had thought the church would have our date/​time, we had booked our reception venue, printed our save the date cards, and told our family and friends! We even have friends moved their air tickets just so they could be back in time to come to our wedding! As we can’t change the date/​time, and getting married in a Catholic church is extremely important to my fiancé’s family, we will have to start the church search from the beginning when the wedding is less than 6 months away! We didn’t go to any other churches as St. Andrew was the first one we visited and we never tried another one after we decided to get married there. Not to mention we might not get a date/​time that we wanted now even from another church because it’s so late. Basically, WE ARE SCREWED!
For what we are willing to pay ($ 3,200 for non-​registered couples to use the facility for only 1 hour to 1.5 hours), we can’t believe we experienced this.
Luci Santos, I will remember you forever for ruining the most important event if my life.

Beautiful church but they make it short of impossible to marry you in the church if you are already married through the court system. I was even told that it was «frowned upon». Only reason i am giving them 3 stars and not zero is because i did baptize my son there and it IS a BEAUTIFUL church.

Y’all know how I roll in terms of religion but this is still a carryover from my Cabot & Sons review. We held my pops service here and the priest did a great job with the reflections and readings, as did the female lead (I don’t know what she is called) that read passages of scripture, and what not. It was more than accommodating and the building is huge and the architecture rocks. I do believe I will be back later this year to attend a wedding, so I will update this review at that time.

Went to Mass here last Sunday to check out the church and the surrounding area. Beautiful! Beautiful service and very nice people.
The only problem I had with this church is the receptionist at the Pastoral Office.
When I called, she seemed very rushed and it felt as if I interrupted something she was doing to answer the call. When I thanked her for the information and asked for her name she said, «Anyone the office can help you, not just me.» And hung up the phone. I don’t know, I just took it as a little rude.
Other than that, everything was wonderful =D

This is not my parrish, and I merely attended a wedding ceremony here.
I daresay this church’s architecture is so aesthetically pleasing that it doesn’t even need flowers or any other decorations (as is customary for weddings)!
Large pillars, gorgeous ceilings, and exquisite color schemes!
Also, it was nice that the priest was bi-​lingual! He had a very thick accent to his English but was perfectly understood (am I seriously reviewing a priest?)
Lastly, the acoustics are great in here. Such a large room with very high ceilings but voices and music were clearly heard.
Someone propose to me already so I can get married here!

this has been my parrish since i was baptised there in the early 60s.
if one says you cannot find the lord in a house of prayer. they would be awfully mistaken. saint andrew/​st andres, is the embodiment of the lord. stern yet warm. if in pasadena for the xmas holidays dont pass up the gorgeous xmas mass and the arbors that fill to the rim this blessed place. go… dont wait~…

Beautiful church. Awesome art. I just looked at architecturally and artistically. I didn’t go to a mass/​service.

Beautiful church. The best I’ve seen. I hardly go to church, I’m not even Catholic but WOW.
I came to accompany my friend and it has been so long since I’ve been, it was nice to be in a sanctuary. I guess not going for so long… I just got very teary eyed during mass. I had trouble understanding/​hearing the priest.
Overall, great mass. Amazing establishment. Marble everywhere. I would come again.
p. s.: the bathrooms are outside of the church to the side.

GORGEOUS CHURCH. I worked at the Pasadena Courthouse and was attending St. Andrews church every other Sunday. My fiancée proposed to me and attended the first marriage meeting and let me tell you we came out of there shocked of how expensive it is to get married there!!! Almost a total of 3,000 dollars!!! I didn’t know we had to pay for sacraments and they make it clear about having to pay that money and it was never mentioned it is just a donation! What the heck??? OHHHH and they have really really bad customer service!!! They are super rude, specially some Woman that goes by the name of LUCY!!! I asked her if there’s anything we can do to lower the price and she asked me what city I lived in? I gave her the name of my city and told me clearly «well why don’t you get married there»?? Who is she to be telling me where to get married at??? She was not helpful at all. I don’t really know how they can have her working there!!! Sorry for my language but that lady is a WITCH!!!

Such a beautful church, we have found ourselves chosing St. Andrew’s as our parish now, even though we live close to 18 miles away. The inside is absolutely stunning and full of marble, high arches, and most importantly, instills a feeling of inner peace and serenity.

I’ve been coming here for 20 years. It is a beautiful church that allows you reflect and truly get into a spiritual mode. As a copy of a church in Italy, St. Andrew has gorgeous paintings and a replica of the famous Pieta. If you’re visiting Pasadena, you have to visit this church!

I look forward to hearing mass at this beautiful church every Sunday or Vigil mass on Saturday in more than a decade now. The church is no doubt built with outstanding artistry in the style of Romanesque architecture. The bell tower seen for miles afar is a true landmark of Pasadena. The murals inside this church is amazingly well preserved. The altar rivals that of the altars i have seen in Europe. The marble floors particularly that leads towards the altar are impeccably well placed. What also draws attention to the interior of the church are the columns which are made of marble with various colors situated on either sides of the church. It is awe-​inspiring that such a temple of Catholic worship exists in my neighborhood. I hope this church continues on forever…

Beautiful church! Great homily by the priest during 9:30 am mass. I felt welcomed. I will be back again and think I’ve found my parish.

One of the most beautiful churches in Southern California. I love the marble columns and the statues.
The Fathers are very nice and I always enjoy mass on Sunday when I am able to attend. And I always attend midnight mass here.

the architecture of this place it 20^th century high church, will all bells and whistles.
outlandish polychrome marble colonnade flanks the nave, alternative color from one column to the next and crowned with massive corinthian capitals. beautiful arts and crafts-​style succession of the stations of the cross above the columns. i loved mary’s electric-​blue halo, it really stands out. the apostles in the apse painting also have them.
fetching timber ceiling, a la pasadena mission style, painted along each beam. this gives the church a greater earthiness in contrast to the marble extravaganza.
splendiferous stained glass windows, albeit so high on the aisle walls, they are difficult to contemplate. further windows decorate the clerestory and the wall above the choir.
some not too bad reproductions of renaissance religious paintings dot the aisle walls as well. darkened by candle soot, they might easily be taken for period originals. i noticed a titian, a fra angelico, and a da vinci, madonna of the rocks, among others.
typical garish-​ish polychrome sculptures in some of the chapels. i particularly liked the st. patrick, holding a four-​leaf clover.
the organist was having a practice session, and she rocked.
luckily, the fellow who ultimately required me to stop taking photos [you need permission from the office] only arrived after i’d shot 35 or so.
fine goldene apse painting. hieratic and rather romanesque.
the whole scene felt like rome, still and cool on a quiet afternoon.
i used to escape the heat in the churches of italy and france.

I am not religious but I love churches especially beautiful ones.
I just finished breakfast at Marston’s and I heard the church bells and decided to head that way. From the outside it looked like a nice church and the doors were open so I headed in.
I did the ritual holy water thing… I love religious rituals and no… it did not burn me… I was concerned too. :)
The church was empty so I took many photos.
It is probably the second most beautiful churches I have ever seen… in the USA that is… St Patricks in NY is number 1.
IF I were catholic and lived in the Pasadena area I would definitely go to this church. (see photos)

I’ve never visited, but thought I’d comment on how beautiful the attached photo is! Hope to visit soon!