Order of Preachers to Bellmore

Bishop John Barres has given care of St. Barnabas Parish, Bellmore, to the Saint Joseph Province of the Dominican Friars.

Please see this report from the Friars.

Syosset's Our Lady of Mercy Academy will close

Sad to report. but Our Lady of Mercy Academy in Syosset will close permanently at the end of June. Please see news reports in Newsday of 1.9.2024 and various parts of the school's website https://olma.org/about/closure-faq/

The cause of the closure is low enrollment. According to Newsday, peak enrollment of 525 was attained in the 1970's. This year's freshmen number 37. I note that Syosset's population was largely Jewish, now becoming more Asian. To the north, St. Dominic's offered a Catholic high school. To the south, Holy Trinity Diocesan High School in Hicksville draws numbers.

I tend to trust James Conant's 1959 opinion that a high school should have at least 100 graduates per year in order to offer a broad curriculum.

When the darkness closes in, Come Lord Jesus

Meri Dell Ridge wrote this morning's entrance hymn, "Come Lord Jesus." It begins, "When the darkness closes in."  M. D. Ridge lived 1938-2017.

Link for her biography HERE.

I cannot link the text, but it shows up in missals published by the Oregon Catholic Press.

Test for Admission to a Catholic High School

The Archdiocese of New York (seven counties), the Diocese of Brooklyn (two counties), and the Diocese of Rockville Centre (two counties) generally require the test offered on the website https://tachsinfo.com/

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The test is taken by computer at home. It costs $71. The student selects three high schools to which the testing company will send results. The test is apparently scheduled for early November, 2023. There must be some way the downloaded program knows that is is the registered eighth grade student and not a learned grandma answering the test questions.

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The abbreviated name for the test is TACHS. Much more information is at https://tachsinfo.com/

Assignments in 2023, mostly June

The link below is to a composite list of 2023 priestly assignments. Note that the sole assignment of a new pastor in Nassau County is Rev. Leo Song to St. Raphael, East Meadow. Other new pastors are in Suffolk County.

Link HERE.

New Catholic Relief Services donation address

Mailed donations to Catholic Relief Services now go to a processing firm in the small city of Harlan, Iowa. Instead of Baltimore, the donation address is now Catholic Relief Services, Post Office Box 5202, Harlan, Iowa 51593-0702. This is a  Hearst-owned corporation that handles incoming payments for many magazines and non-profit organizations.

Guadalupe, in Spain and Mexico

At the end of the 12th century in Guadalupe, Extremadura, Spain, a man found a hidden statue of Mary.

Please see the Wikipedia article linked HERE.

Two hundred years later, Juan Diego met Our Lady at Tepeyac, now part of Mexico City. Her feast  is December 12th.