Lord

The heart of the Christian community is our Triune Lord: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Geography, history, and numbers are not the heart, but probably I will type mostly on these topics. As the internet already provides many encouraging spiritual guides and discouraging contentious forums, I intend to offer neither.
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To find a parish, enter a keyword in the search box at the top left, or look through the labels and links down the right-hand column. The posts themselves follow the Blogger format of newest items on top.
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Saturday, July 26, 2014

St. Martin of Tours, Bethpage


Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.





The parish of St. Martin of Tours is located at 220 Central Avenue, Bethpage NY 11714, telephone 516-931-0808.  The parish website is linked here.  The church, rectory, and other parish buildings are within the triangle created by Broadway, Central Avenue, and Seaman Avenue.  The location is three blocks southeast of the Bethpage train station.
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An informative history of the parish is at this link.  Diocesan priests served the parish from 1924 until 1986, when they were replaced by Redemptorists of the province of Baltimore, which is headquartered in Bay Ridge!


Above is the religious education center, built as an elementary school in 1955, and the church, on busy Central Avenue.  


A wedding was being celebrated the Friday afternoon the above 2011 photo was taken on Central Avenue. 
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Within seven miles of each other are two parishes whose patron is St. Martin of Tours.  In Amityville, Suffolk County, the parish of St. Martin of Tours was founded in 1898.  This parish in Bethpage, Nassau County, was established in 1923.  
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Born in 316 in what is now Hungary, Martin moved around with his father, an officer in the Roman Army.  Martin became a Christian, and he was the third bishop of Tours, France, from 371 to 397.  His successor was the renowned St. Brice.

Friday, July 18, 2014

St. Christopher, Baldwin



The Mass schedule on the sign is for July and August, 2014. Please check the parish website linked here for changes in the Mass schedule. The convent chapel is on the west side of Pershing Blvd.  Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.


The postal address of St. Christopher parish, Baldwin, is 11 Gale Avenue, Baldwin NY 11510, telephone 516-223-0723. 







The postal address of St. Christopher School is 15 Pershing Blvd, Baldwin NY 11510, telephone 516-223-4404.  The school's website is linked here.
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The photos above show the school and the church next to each other on the north side of Merrick Road in Baldwin.  Pershing Boulevard is west of the school, and Gale Place is east of the church. In front of the church, the N4 bus provides frequent service between Jamaica and Freeport.
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The bishop of Brooklyn established St. Christopher's parish in 1915, after the foundation of St. Agnes, Rockville Centre, and Holy Redeemer, Freeport.  The south portion of the school has a cornerstone dated 1924.  The present church was built in 1959.  A few years later, twelve more classrooms were added to the school.



Recall that Merrick Road was the principal route along the south shore before the construction of Sunrise Highway in the 1920's.  A history page on the school website (linked here) recounts that Bishop Charles McDonnell was already an avid motorist in 1912-1915 and therefore selected the name the Shrine Church of St. Christopher. Because of the famous legend, St. Christopher was already the Patron of Travelers.