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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Showing posts with label Fosters Meadow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fosters Meadow. Show all posts

Thursday, June 2, 2011

St. Boniface, Elmont




Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.


The mailing address of St. Boniface Parish is 631 Elmont Road, Elmont NY 11003, telephone 516-354-0715. The parish website is linked HERE, and it is current as of March, 2019.
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The church, rectory, and graveyard are on the northeast corner of Elmont Road and Dutch Broadway. When the parish was established in the 1850's, this location was known as Foster's Meadow, in the Town of Hempstead, within Queens County, as Nassau County came into existence in 1899. The Catholics were mostly farmers, mostly of German heritage. St. Boniface himself was born in England and became an apostle to the Germans. He lived from about 672 to 754. A bas-relief of Boniface stands to the right of the main door of the church, built in 1963.
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An article printed 6.23.2011 in the Franklin Square/Elmont Herald says that the church was first named the Nativity of Our Lord. "In 1857, the building was rededicated and called St. Boniface." The diocesan website gives 1858 as the date of the establishment of the parish.
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Please do not confuse this parish with St. Boniface Martyr, Sea Cliff. That parish is younger, and the patron is a different Boniface.



Stained glass windows surround the pews. Quite a few present extraordinary topics. Above is the martyrdom of St. Boniface in Frisia, now the Friesland, Netherlands. The year was 754.


St. James the Less does not have a Catholic parish on Long Island, so here he is in Elmont, writing a letter. The Bible has a epistle with his name.


I find it difficult to take good photos of stained glass windows; exposure fools me. This window depicts Pope John XXIII welcoming Bishop Walter Kellenberg to the Second Vatican Council. The council opened in October, 1962. John died the next June. The cornerstone of St. Boniface church is dated 1963. In 1976, Bishop Kellenberg retired.






Thursday, January 27, 2011

Belmont deanery

The Diocese of Rockville Centre, although highly centralized under its Bishop, is structured with three Vicariates: Western, Central, Eastern. Within Nassau County there are seven Deaneries.  I begin with the Belmont Deanery, bordering Queens County.  Please recall that until 1899 Queens County included the towns of Nassau County.  Until 1957, the diocese of Brooklyn included all Long Island.
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In 1858, Bishop John Loughlin of Brooklyn established St. Boniface parish, now with its church and cemetery at Dutch Broadway and Elmont Road, in an area then called Foster Meadow.  In 1902, Bishop Charles McDonnell established St. Hedwig as a Polish parish in Floral Park and Holy Name of Mary in downtown Valley Stream.
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1913 -- Establishment of St. Catherine of Sienna, Franklin Square.
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1921: Establishment of Our Lady of Victory, Floral Park.  The victory commemorated is that of 1571, one of the battles of Lepanto. 
1926: Our Lady of Lourdes, Malverne
1929: St. Anne, Garden City
1941: Our Lady of Peace, Lynbrook. "Inspired by the world events of 1941, the pastor-founder of the new church suggested that the new church be dedicated to and named Our Lady of Peace."
1950: Blessed Sacrament, North Valley Stream
1951: St. Vincent de Paul, Elmont
The above ten parishes comprise the Belmont Deanery.  Five will sponsor parish elementary schools in September, 2012: St. AnneOur Lady of Peace, Our Lady of LourdesOur Lady of Victory, and Holy Name of Mary.  All ten parishes have Faith Formation (CCD) programs.