Immaculate Conception Church

I like the church even though I’m not catholic, they have a lot of events, I can tell they are doing great deeds for the community. I have one complaint though, they recently updated their bells to music bells, which is great, in a good afternoon the music is very calming, but at least once everyday, the music bell stuck and keep play the same notes over and over again for at least five minutes! It has been like a month! Every day! we called them to express our concerns, and thought they would fix it, now couple weeks passed, nothing changed. I work just around the church, on a Monday morning a stuck bell for 5 minutes just too much! I beg you, please fix it!

This is a five rating for Father Josef Mitek. He gives very profound and moving sermons. He discusses very crucial important issues and catechism of the church in an interesting and easy to comprehend manner. I am familiar with the works of the great doctors of the church, which can be very difficult for most people to comprehend. But he presents it in an easily digestible format. He is very inspirational and I love the way he talks about the Blessed Mother and the Saints. Very well educated as he discusses church history with such detail expounding on various centuries of our church history. Many of these saints and topics have been long forgotten and would not be brought to the forefront if it weren’t for this wonderful, and I believe saintly priest.
Not too crazy about the Protestant/​60s folk music they play but lately the music has been returning to more sacred, inspirational music here and there. Not a fan of hand clapping gospel type music for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. My goodness the Catholic Church has centuries of classical and holy inspirational music that moves you interiorly, not to get up and dance a jig for goodness sakes. Seems now only the cultured secular segment of society listen to our discarded church music, i.e. Handel’s Messiah, Ave Maria, or very sacred Gregorian Chant. I suppose that does require some special training though.
They have nice religious movies regularly which help in the education of the faith. Seem to have a well organized pro life group active in the church, which is great. The inside of the church is reminiscent of the churches in the 19^th century. I believe it may have been constructed with a grant from the Bradbury family back in the day.

The priest on Sundays at 5pm gives a long homily but it’s interesting and profound. He has a European accent but you can easily understand him. Sometimes, the homilies are a little too long. You’ll know it is the end of the homily because he says «enough? Enough!» Such a funny priest.
You will definitely learn a lot from him.
The masses are usually an hour long unless there is an event going on– like confirmation. Then, it takes really long.
The choir is really good too! They have different people singing during the different mass times. They’re all very talented and make the mass so beautiful.
A very beautiful church to gives thanks for all our blessings!

Great Catholic church, great location. They have more masses than the surrounding Catholic churches for ex, they have two evening Sunday masses at 5 and 7. You can also join them for weekday eve masses on Mon, Tue, Thur, and Fri. They also have a delightful adoration chapel. The school has apparently done well, and they have an amazing yearly fiesta that tops all the others in the area. Huge fiesta. The priests are also highly recommended, esp Father Cassidy. He leads a weekly prayer group and is very kind. Great guy to go to confession with. The other priest for confessions are visitors, while they search for a parish priest, and it is important to know that Father Cassidy is a priest in residence here at Immaculate Conception. Finally, the office staff is mostly great, they can sometimes be a little dim bulbed, but otherwise are helpful.

came here to pay respects to the man upstairs.
i don’t go to church, ever really. it would be nice to check in now and again, so i started on an unusual monday. generally, I’m not a fan of going to church… i don’t know the protocol… I’m afraid of cussing in my head, I’m afraid of praying wrong, and i feel like I’m being judged. this could be me and how i perceive myself, which is most likely, but when i saw the immaculate conception church, i felt warm.
it was late and the church was empty, so the boyfriend and i had the place to itself. it was good to have some time and pay thanks. i look forward to the next time i visit.

My parish for 25 years.
The church building is on the grander side. Charming old-​fashioned steeple, clean light paint, faux buttresses, airy, and large. Air conditioning comes from overhead vents so it can be chilly when it’s blowing right at you. Acoustics are excellent– you can hear the priest from anywhere in the nave, the narthex, and the vestibules. Very charming garden with topiary-​style trees and a quaint water fountain. The choir loft is not in use. There is an old convent located nearby– the chapel of which, has become a beautiful and peaceful Blessed Sacrament Chapel.
This church does have perpetual adoration– you’ll need a passcode to enter after 8pm.
If you plan on starting a ministry, the very limited meeting spaces are reserved months in advance. The parish hall is small and not the nicest space and is ill-​located behind the parking lot.
In addition, there is a school on site– operated in coordination with Annunciation Church of Arcadia, CA. The church and the school heavily support each other and the students are well-​seen.
The community itself is close-​knit, diverse, and very welcoming– made up mostly of residents from the Monrovia-​Duarte-​Bradbury area. However, I would say the activities and community involvement is generally not as vibrant as those of other parishes in the deanery. Most holy day feasts are liturgically bilingual (English-​Spanish). There is a very active Guadalupana community and the KofC have a local chapter. The English Cursillo movement also has an ultreya here.
Their penance services are well-​attended affairs (the last big one I attended had 16 priests– now that’s a lot of sins). Liturgies are well-​planned .
I’d say a majority of the congregation does not sing along to the hymns at the 10AM Mass. Still, the music is great– more on the traditional (post-​1970) side. I looove the latin Mass parts during Lent! They use the ¡Celebremos!/Let Us Celebrate! Missal from WLP as well as the Spirit & Song Abridged.
As of this review, there is no pastor– Fr. Hung Tran serves as administrator. He’s friendly, soft-​spoken, and very awesome.
This is a church with an extremely vibrant history and one of the oldest in the deanery. However, it is not generally known to exist by Catholics beyond Arcadia, Azusa, and Covina.
Don’t miss these features:
1) A large gilded Our Lady of Perpetual Help icon at the front, under the baldachin.
2) A cross and Sacred Heart of Jesus devotional chapel by the West wing.
3) The Lady of Fatima statue by the main front entrance is a popular spot for families taking pictures.
4) The Blessed Sacrament Chapel– beautiful and very serene.
5) The Weeping Rachel statue by the front serves as a testament to life.