Easter Vigil at St. William the Abbot

Fortunately for me, the Easter Vigil on April 4, 2026, was televised. There is a single camera, facing the altar from a viewpoint above the center aisle near the fifth pew. The screen was dark until the Pastor and the Pascal Candle approached the altar and the candles of the congregation has been shared.

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What happened next caused me to post this news. The director of music, Jennifer Hegmann-Palmentieri sang the Exultet magnificently. The Exulet is a joyous proclamation with origins about the 7th century. It is rich in thoughts, including O Felix Culpa and the allusion to the toil of bees as described by Virgil. 

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From Holy Saturday 1951 to 1955, I attended lengthy Holy Saturday Masses at 6:30 a.m. when the celebrant mumbled nine readings facing the altar. In 1955, Pope Pius XII reintroduced the older nighttime Vigil, but still in Latin. It was joyous, as we young De La Salle Brothers had our freshman Catholic University classes in Troy, New York. The celebrant of this momentous change was Father Aidan Carr, OFM Conv.

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The language of the Easter Vigil changed to English about 1970.

Bishop Barres visits Seaford

Bishop John Oliver Barres offered the 9 a.m. Mass at St. William the Abbot, Seaford, March 2, 2025. He thanked Father Joseph Fitzgerald for his work and extended his role as pastor for a second six-year term. The bishop also said that Fr. Fitzgerald will be a chaplain at the Olympic Games that open in Los Angeles July 14, 2028.

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Today's selection of readings and the responsorial psalm exemplifies the rich introduction of the three-year cycle effective Palm Sunday, 1970.  Psalm 92: Lord it is good to give thanks to you.

Holy Games before Paris Olympics

 Father Joseph Fitzgerald in Paris for the Holy Games.

Link HERE.

Also https://churchleaders.com/news/490554-olympics-get-underway-french-catholics-hold-prayer-vigil-for-athletes-rns.html

St. William the Abbot, July 3, 2020

Congratulations to the 8th graders of 2020!

One hundred eighty-nine 8th graders graduated from Seaford Middle School.
Thirty-six graduated from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Bellmore.
Sixteen graduated from Maria Regina, Seaford.

Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.

For many more photos of the parish of St. William the Abbot, please click HERE.

Nelson Jesús Pérez

Much will be written about the appointment of Nelson Pérez as archbishop of Philadelphia, to be installed February 18th, 2020.  From 2002 to 2007 he was pastor of St. William's parish on Rising Sun Avenue in Lawncrest, northeast Philadelphia. Rising Sun is the design on the chair on which George Washington sat in Independence Hall in 1787. A recent description of St. William's parish is on the archdiocesan website HERE.
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Philadelphia does have a cardinal, Justin Rigali, age 84, who retired in 2011. His brother Henry was a member of our St. William parish in Seaford.

St. William the Abbot, Seaford

The parish of St. William the Abbot is located at 2000 Jackson Avenue, Seaford, NY 11783, one block south of Sunrise Highway (NY 27) and the Seaford railroad station. The parish telephone number is 516-785-1266, and its website is linked here.  The parish was established in 1928. Twice, the church has been enlarged.

Above, the church interior early Pentecost morning, 2012, before Mass.

In the former baptistry on the north side of the foyer, there are shrines of three saints, St. Joseph in the center, St. William the Abbot to the left, and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton to the right. St. William wears the wrong habit, however, for a Benedictine of the 11th century.  The habit on the statue is Franciscan.  
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On Monday, May 20, 2024, Bishop Andrezj Zglejszewski confirmed 143 youths. 

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On Monday, May 22 2023, Bishop Luis M. Romero Fernandez, M. Id., confirmed 145 youths.

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On Monday, May 23, 2022, Bishop John Oliver Barres confirmed about 134 youths in three ceremonies. The two photos below are from the late afternoon confirmation.

On November 21, 2019, Bishop Andrzej  Zglejszewski confirmed 201 youths, mostly eighth graders.  The cathedral website gives the pronunciation of his name On-jay Sklay-shef-ski.   He pronounces his name at the beginning of this interview.

Most photos may be enlarged by clicking on them.

In December 2013, the parish purchased a new outdoor manger scene and placed a memorial list in the church lobby.  Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.

Across Jackson Avenue is the parish elementary school at 2001 Jackson Avenue.  The school telephone number is 516-785-6784, and its website is linked here.  At first, Dominican Sisters from Amityville provided religious education.  Later, when the school was opened Ursuline Sisters from Blue Point staffed the school for several decades.  Of the parish elementary schools on Long Island, St. William's is the third or fourth highest in enrollment. In June, 2016, fifty-eight students graduated from eighth grade. In this era, that is a healthy number.

In the autumn of 2017 Barbara and Anthony Fuima created this outdoor prayer space with a statue of Saint Padre Pio.

Deacon John Lynch asks the help of children in blessing the water for baptisms one Sunday afternoon in 2018.
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Edit of September 24, 2021: I realize that this post omits names of importance, such as Catherine and William Morgan, the couple who got Father Theodore J. King from Bellmore to offer Mass in a store on the south side of Merrick Road in 1913. William Garnett Payne lived in the house on Washington Avenue adjacent to and south of the school playground. In the late 1920's the church owned only west of Jackson Avenue, and Mr. Payne at some point transferred the property east of Jackson Avenue to the parish. It may have been a gift or close to a gift. For more about this extraordinary man, please see this link to Find A Grave.

St. Joseph's Day, March 19, 2014

Photos may be enlarged by clicking on them.

Viva la tavola di San Giuse!
After the morning Masses at St. William the Abbot's parish, Seaford, St. Joseph's bread was blessed and distributed. The first photo shows Fr. Bala blessing the bread after the first Mass.  School children, parents, and parishioners attended the second Mass.
A typed handout explained:
Saint Joseph is one of the most beloved saints among Italian-Americans.   As the patron of workers and the protector of the family, he is honored with a feast on March 19.  It began when there was a severe drought in Sicily in the middle ages.  In desperation, people asked St.Joseph, their patron, to intervene.  They promised if rain came, they would prepare a big feast in his honor.  The tradition says these prayers were answered with rainy weather.  In gratitude, huge banquet tables were set up in public, and poor people were invited to come and east as much as they wanted.
Generosity marks this day, as it did the character of Joseph himself.  In many nations, it's a day of sharing with the poor and needy, and nowhere is this bettr carried out than in the nation that perhaps loves the most, Italy.  In many villages, especially in Sicily, every one of any means contributes to a table spread in the public square as an offering for favors received for prayers to this kindly saint.  The bread made for this day represents Jesus.  The guests are orphans, widows, or beggars.  After Mass, all go in procesion to this festive table.  After the priest blesses the feast, all shout, "Viva la tavola di San Giuse!"  Every guest is given something to take home.

Catholic elementary schools in Nassau County

About twenty-eight Catholic elementary schools teach approximately 10,360 students in Nassau County, according to the 2013 Official Catholic Directory. Most of these schools are parish-based.  Five are regional, that is, nearby parishes support a school together or are listed as sending their students to that school.  Each of the three "private" schools is unique.  The De La Salle School, Freeport, teaches only boys and only grades 5-8.  Holy Child Academy is an independent school with higher tuition.  The St. Martin de Porres school in Uniondale is somehow linked with neighboring parishes but controlled by the Marianist Province of Meribah.
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As reported to the Directory, these elementary schools have the largest enrollment in Nassau County:  St. Agnes Cathedral, with 827 students; St. William the Abbot, 585; St. Aidan, 540; St. Anne, 540.  The approximate median enrollments are: Maria Regina, 400; Holy Family, 365; St. Joseph, 356. One parish school and one regional school reported enrollments under 230 when the OCD figures were collected.

This is the night

Exsultet iam angelica turba!  Exult, let them exult, the hosts of heaven! Exsultent divina mysteria!  Exult, let angel ministers of God exult! Et pro tanti Regis victoria tuba insonet salutaris!  Let the trumpet of salvation sound aloud our mighty King's triumph!

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(A magnificent poetic song, with elegance and paradox, originating somewhere between the fifth and seventh centuries.)