St. Bernard, Levittown

St. Bernard's church is located at 3100 Hempstead Turnpike, Levittown, New York 11756, telephone 516-731-4220.  The well-maintained parish website is linked here.  As of February, 2015, there is a current Facebook page here.

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Lined with stores, Hempstead Turnpike (NY 24) is the principal east-west thoroughfare of Levittown.  St. Bernard's church is clearly marked with the above tower on the south side of the highway, on a service road.  A driveway at the stop sign leads to the the church entrance and the six buildings which surround a vast parking lot.  The tower and rectory have scant frontage on Hempstead Turnpike, but the property runs deep to the south.

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The main entrance to the church, seen in this view north towards Hempstead Turnpike. The rectory is to the right of this driveway.

 The above view looks west.

The tower serves its purpose.  On busy and cluttered Hempstead Turnpike, the large cross marks the building as a Christian church.  From the inside, one would not guess that the tower is to the right of those windows ahead.  Like a campanile, the tower and its windows have no presence inside the church, but each (the tower and the church) serves its purpose well.
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The parish was established in 1948, shortly after the first Levitt houses were constructed nearby.  An excellent history of the parish is provided here.  At the center of Levittown, St. Bernard's is the only Catholic parish with a Levittown address.  To the north, Holy Family parish, Hicksville, includes many families living in Levitt houses.  To the east is St. James parish in northern Seaford.  To the south is the parish of St. Frances de Chantal in northern Wantagh.  To the southwest is St. Raphael, East Meadow, and to the northwest is St. Brigid, Westbury.  I do not know how many of 53,000 inhabitants of Levittown live within the borders of St. Bernard's parish.

There seem to be six or seven buildings in the parish complex. Left to right: the parish center, with the Clairvaux house (an older building peeking over the center), the church, the rectory (a white frame house), a gymnasium, and a large school now shared by Faith Formation (youth and adults), a child-care program, and classes of the Nassau Board of Cooperative Educational Services.  A convent is to the left, but behind the camera.
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The church is about a mile east of the Wantagh Parkway.  Four Long Island Bus routes ply Hempstead Turnpike in front of the church: N70, N71, N72, and N73.

St. Anne, Garden City

The church of St. Anne is located at New Hyde Park Road and Dartmouth Street in western Garden City, almost into Stewart Manor.  Established in 1929, the parish address is 35 Dartmouth Street, Garden City, NY 11530, telephone 516-352-5904.  The parish website is linked here.

In 1950 the parish built St. Anne's School at 25 Dartmouth Street, Garden City NY 11530, telephone 516-352-1205.  The school website is linked here. According to the Official Catholic Directory of 2011, the school has a healthy enrollment of more than five hundred students.
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Each photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.  Beneath the pedestal of the statue, one can see the words "Good St. Anne," maybe inspired by the habitual French expression, La bonne Ste.-Anne.

St. Raphael, East Meadow

The new church of St. Raphael, East Meadow, has risen on a field behind other parish buildings.  The parish address is 600 Newbridge Road, East Meadow NY 11554, telephone 516-785-0236.  The parish website is linked here.

The lobby has a shrine of Archangel Raphael.  To read the text, please click on the photo.

More than twenty-five inspiring stained-glass windows surround the pews. Unlike the famous windows of Sainte-Chapelle in Paris and those at St. William the Abbot parish, these windows still illuminate the church brightly.

I find it difficult to categorize the shape of the church.  Not Gothic?  Romanesque arches?  Byzantine?  Colonial?  Six pillars appear to support arches.  The dome is square, the nave and transepts T-shaped.  the pews in five directions face the altar.

Weekday Masses are at 7:30 and 9 a.m.

The parish reports 5,700 registered families.  Its geographic boundaries are, I believe, extensive, with St. Bernard to the east, St. Brigid to the north, and Sacred Heart to the south. Maybe the west boundary is the Meadowbrook Parkway, with St. Martha beyond.  The parish website is linked here.  A bulletin gave the Mass Attendance for Sunday, December 23, 2012, as 2,909.  
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It seems that one of the many ethnic groups in the parish is Filipino.  Ten years ago, a Filipino resident of Queens pointed out to me that, unlike some other groups that settled where their landsmen were (giving New York Irish, Italian, German enclaves, for example), Filipinos were spread throughout the parishes of our metropolis.
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About 1992, St. Raphael's elementary school was absorbed into St. Elizabeth Ann Seton regional school, supported by four parishes, and principally located at St. Barnabas, Bellmore.

Above are the buildings that face Newbridge Road.  To the right is the old church.  The rectory is in the center.  The school is to the left, the upper floor used by Nassau County's Academy for Emergency Medical Service personnel.  Further to the left is the entrance for the Religious Education program, apparently using the first floor; then the convent; then some rooms for the Pius XII Council of the Knights of Columbus.
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To reach the new church, one passes around the left end of the school, or one uses Pendroy Street, on the north side of the old church.  This location is about one mile north of Exit 25 of the Southern State Parkway.  Newbridge Road is also NY 106.

St. Martha, Uniondale

St. Martha's church is located at 546 Greengrove Avenue, Uniondale NY 11553, telephone 516-481-2550.  This is a half-block north of busy east-west Jerusalem Avenue, and there is a traffic signal at the intersection.  The parish website is linked HERE, as of March, 2019.

Fifty years ago, when a religious congregation staffed a parish school, the pastor signed a contract with the congregation, which then appointed a principal and assigned the staff there as a "mission."  The pastor remained in control of the school, and he was responsible for its finances.
Referring to the above two photos, what was St. Martha's parish school is now used in part for the parish's religious education program (left or south end in the photo) and in part for St. Martin de Porres Marianist School.  The religious congregation founded in 1817 by Blessed William Joseph Chaminade runs the school, hires the teachers, and sets tuition and rules.  The school's address is 530 Hempstead Boulevard, Uniondale, NY 11553, telephone 516-481-3303.  Its website is linked here.

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St. Martha's church is to the left of the photographer of the above two pictures, which look west. Hempstead Boulevard is a residential street to the right.  Busy Jerusalem Avenue is to the left.  On the west side of the school is Bedford Avenue.
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From the website, it appears that four Marianists administer the school and that none are full-time classroom teachers.

St. Ignatius Loyola, Hicksville

St. Ignatius Loyola parish is located at 129 Broadway, Hicksville, NY 11801, telephone 516-931-0056.  The Mass schedule is linked HERE.  The parish Facebook page is linked HERE, 

Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.

A former school building faces East Nicolai Street.

Another former school building is at 30 East Cherry Street.  The bishop of Rockville Centre closed the school in 2012.  Holy Family parish school is a mile south.

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The parish buildings are located on a rectangular block, with the church and rectory facing southwest on Broadway (NY 107), one former school on the northwest side (East Nicholai Street), and other parish buildings on the southeast side (East Cherry Street).  The northwest side borders the tracks of the Long Island Rail Road's main line, constructed here in 1841, three decades before the parish was canonically established.  According to the history on the parish website, the rectangle of property was begun piecemeal with a donation of two lots by 1859.

Our Lady of Peace, Lynbrook

Our Lady of Peace church faces the busy intersection of Merrick Road and Peninsula Boulevard in Lynbrook.  Its mailing address is 25 Fowler Avenue, Lynbrook NY 11563, telephone 516-599-6414.  The parish website is linked here.

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These photos were taken in August, 2011. Clicking on any photo will enlarge it.

During 9 a.m. Mass on March 12, 2011, a gunman killed a faithful parishioner and the beloved pastor, honored by this plaque and by memorial trees on the west side of the church. Many articles about this tragedy are available on the New York Times website archives and through Proquest at public libraries.  I knew Fr. Larry from his years at St. Frances de Chantal, Wantagh.

The school address is 21 Fowler Avenue, Lynbrook NY 11563, telephone 516-593-9861.  The school's website is linked here. It would appear that the Sisters of Mercy and lay teachers staff the school.

The west end of the school faces Merrick Road.

Holy Name of Jesus, Woodbury

The church of the Holy Name of Jesus is located at 690 Woodbury Road, Woodbury NY 11797, telephone 516-921-2334.  Its website is linked here.  The front of the church (shown above, with the main door in morning shadows) faces west into the parking lot of an office building.  Ahead, to the north one can see some of the senior housing built on what was a parish field or lawn.  There are several directional signs on Woodbury Road guiding the traveler into Carnegie Court alongside the housing, which leads to the church.  The website mentioned above has driving directions.

Above, the view looks along the south side of the church.  The rectory is to the left.

The rectory faces the church.

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Catholic Koreans gather here for two Masses on Sundays, at 9:30 a.m. and noon.
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The September 28, 2012, edition of Long Island Business News related how, in the year 2000, Holy Name parish sold six of its ten acres for 114 senior apartments.

St. Pius X, Plainview

Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.
The parish of St. Pius X is located on Washington Avenue, Plainview, near the intersection with Presidential Drive South.  The mailing address is 1 St. Pius X Court, Plainview NY 11801, telephone 516-938-3956. The parish website is linked here.

Curbside parking is available on Washington Avenue in front of the church, but to the left of the church (where you see a canopy) is an extensive parking lot for the church and the nursery schools that rent what was the parish school.

The church predates the school.  In 1955, Archbishop Thomas Molloy established this parish in honor of Pope St. Pius X, who was canonized the previous year.  

Our Lady of Mercy, Hicksville

Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.

Our Lady of Mercy parish is located at 500 South Oyster Bay Road, Hicksville NY 11801, telephone 516-931-4351.  The parish website is linked here.  The location is in northeast Hicksville,  about a mile south of Exit 36 of the Northern State Parkway. The parish buildings are on the west side of South Oyster Bay Road, and across the street is Plainview.

The upper church, which is bright, seems to be locked on weekdays, except for funerals.

The parish website reports that the first pastor learned of his assignment on September 23, the feast of Our Lady of Mercy, and thereby chose the name.

Looking north, the above photo shows the elementary school and church.  This is not a business district, and the parish is surrounded by single-family homes.
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The mailing address of the school is 520 South Oyster Bay Road, Hicksville NY 11801, telephone 516-433-7040.  The school's website is linked here.

Sacred Heart, North Merrick

Sacred Heart parish is located at 720 Merrick Avenue, Merrick, NY 11566, telephone 516-379-1356. The parish website is linked here. The church and school are on the east side of Merrick Avenue immediately south of Exit 24 of the Southern State Parkway. They are about two miles north of the Merrick railroad station at Sunrise Highway.

The church was probably finished about 2009, and it replaced (if memory is correct) a smaller wooden building.  The parish itself dates from 1952, when Archbishop Molloy split it from Curé of Ars, two miles south.  In 1961, the Sisters of St. Joseph began to staff the parish school.  From a building fund drive mentioned in the bulletin, it seems that the parish continues to pay off a construction debt.

Inside, the church is a square, with the side pews at an angle.  This view of the north wall shows six stations of the cross in stained glass windows with devotional statues and vigil lights between the windows.

 Above is the Ninth Station on the south wall.

Statuary abounds outside and inside the church.  Here, St. Florian, patron of firefighters, is honored to the left of the main entrance.  To the right are St. Michael, patron of police officers, and St. John Vianney.

Above, St. Francis of Assisi.


The address for Sacred Heart School is 730 Merrick Avenue, Merrick NY 11566, telephone 516-378-5797. The school website is linked here.  Sad to relate, the Bishop of Rockville Centre has decreed the closure of Sacred Heart school in June, 2012.  Please see his announcement, linked here.
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Regarding the prayer for peace in the photo below: A similar pole may be found at Immaculate Heart of Mary parish in Kensington, Brooklyn.