CARDINAL HELPS MARK CHURCH'S 75TH YEAR.

Byline: Christopher Noxon Daily News Staff Writer

Soon after he arrived here 53 years ago for a job picking walnuts, Luis Sanchez found his way to the St. Rose of Lima Church on the corner of Third Street and Pacific Avenue.

The church was a simple A-frame chapel that easily accommodated the 100 or so farm workers, cowboys and others who came for Mass.

A lot has changed over the years for Sanchez, and especially for the little chapel on the corner.

Sanchez is now 76 years old and has five children. St. Rose has also grown and now includes a school, a convent, a parish hall and a rectory. The church serves about 3,800 families, enough for five Masses every weekend.

``It's just been growing, growing and growing,'' Sanchez said. ``It's nothing like it used to be.''

The parish held its 75th anniversary celebration Sunday in a ceremony led by Cardinal Roger Mahony along with Bishop Thomas Curry and four former St. Rose pastors. About 2,000 parishioner filled an athletic field for a noontime Mass followed by a barbecue lunch.

One measure pointing to the growth of the congregation was the 17 bowls of communion crackers used during Mass.

Another measure was at the barbecue, where chef Eric Moorehouse prepared 500 pounds of tri-tip steak and 300 hot dogs.

Coordinating the event was a daunting but rewarding task, said organizers Sheila Shaffer and Bobbi Driscoll. The celebration gave parishioner a chance to work together and get to know each other in the process.

``This has really brought people together,'' said Shaffer. ``This is major history and people are putting their hearts and souls into it.''

The celebration shed light on a rich chapter of local history, said Dan Leighty, who has been attending the church with his family for 12 years.

``I was really surprised by the long history of the parish in a new city like Simi Valley,'' he said.

The church was established in 1921 after serving as a mission for eight years. The congregation grew to the point that parishioner filled a patio and parking lot outside for the Sunday Mass.

The church opened its expanded facilities in 1964 after an aggressive period of growth led by the Rev. Patrick McDonagh. The old church still stands, boarded-up and unoccupied. It was sold in the early 1970s to a Simi Valley man.

Fresh from his unsuccessful battle to tear down St. Vibiana's Cathedral in downtown Los Angles and replace it with a $45 million church complex, Mahony joked that parishioner should be glad they no longer own the original church.

``Fortunately you don't own it because it is very historical,'' he said. ``If you did own it you'd never be able to get rid of it,'' he said.