Sunday of Divine Mercy

April 19, 2020, is the First Sunday of Easter or Sunday of Divine Mercy. The readings are HERE.
A link describing Sr. Faustina and Pope St. John Paul II with the establishment of the Sunday of Divine Mercy is linked HERE. 
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This Sunday has also been known as Low Sunday, Dominica in Albis Depositis (Sunday with the white baptismal garments put aside), Thomas Sunday (because of the Gospel reading), and Quasimodo Sunday. The Latin Introit begins with Quasimodo (As if newborn babes ...). In Victor Hugo's novel, Notre-Dame de Paris, the archdeacon there finds the abandoned infant on this Sunday, and names him Quasimodo.

A hymn for church unity

On Holy Thursday, 2020, I watched and prayed along with Cardinal Timothy Dolan at the 5:30 p.m. Eucharist from St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York. Early during the Mass, the hymn, "Lord, who at thy First Eucharist Did pray" was sung by a cantor in a very empty cathedral, empty because of the gathering limitations of the Coronavirus pandemic.
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This hymn for Eucharistic Unity was written by a member of the Church of England, namely William Harry Turton, 1856-1938. The lyrics can be seen and the hymn heard on YouTube HERE.

Antoinette Bosco, writer at The Long Island Catholic

Antoinette Bosco, who worked at The Long Island Catholic for at least ten years and was a prolific writer, passed away on March 20, 2020. Her obituary is linked HERE. Her personal homepage, listing the books she wrote, is linked HERE.
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I have not figured out the succession of editors or their titles at The Long Island Catholic when it was an informative weekly broadsheet from about 1962 to 2012.  I think Mrs. Bosco worked there while Msgr. Daniel Hamilton was editor-in-chief. The editors I recall were Fr. Paul McKeever (1967-1975, according to his 1988 obituary in the New York Times), Msgr. Hamilton (probably 1975 until he was appointed pastor in Lindenhurst in 1985), perhaps Peter Feuerherd, perhaps Rick Hinshaw.

Sad news from Bushwick

According to the unofficial Catholic News Agency (EWTN), on Friday, March 27, 2020, St. Brigid's parish, on the Bushwick-Ridgewood border, lost their pastor, Fr.Jorge Ortiz-Garay, to Coronavirus.  Link HERE.
According to the official Catholic News Service, he was incardinated into the diocese of Brooklyn and was a naturalized U. S. citizen. Link HERE.

Coronavirus resources

The diocesan website has assembled a variety of statements, regulations, and resources on a single list. Please find the list HERE. Note especially the announcement of March 24, 2020.

Catholic Directory, 1855

At random frequency, a Google search comes up with a scanned copy of a book of fascinating interest. Please go to page 189 of this Metropolitan Catholic Almanac and Laity's Directory 1855 for a description of  Catholic Long Island in that year.
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The diocese of Brooklyn was only two years old under Bishop John Loughlin. From Brooklyn through Suffolk County there were twenty-four churches, eleven stations, and thirty clergymen. The Brothers of the Christian Schools were already teaching on Jay Street, together with the Sisters of Charity and the Order of St. Dominic at other schools.
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The directory makes a few geographic errors, listing some Suffolk towns as Queens. Nassau County was cut from Queens in 1898. Parishes listed in 1855 within present Nassau County include St. Boniface, Forster's Meadow (Elmont), Hicksville (St. Ignatius Loyola, with many missions), Manhasset (St. Mary's, attended monthly from St. Michael's, Flushing), and St. Brigid, Westbury, attended occasionally from Jamaica. Glen Cove seems to be missing as an attended mission, but in 1866 Bishop Loughlin erected St. Patrick's parish there.
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This 1855 directory is free to download.

O God, our Help in Ages past

Isaac Watts (1674-1748), a Congregationalist minister, based "O God, our Help in Ages past" on Psalm 90. William Croft (1678-1727) wrote the familiar melody. Is this appropriate for a stressful year?

YouTube with lyrics.

Psalm 90 from USCCB.