by Marie Elena Giossi

Seventy-five years ago, Catholics in Annadale Park rejoiced when a new parish was formed to serve the growing Irish and Italian families in this community of creeks and fields dotted with small houses and a few stores.

Today, the area is known as Rego Park, and amid retail shops and residential homes, Our Lady of the Angelus Church continues to serve this dynamic and ethnically mixed community.

Parishioners of Hispanic, Filipino, Asian, Indian, African and Polish descent filled the church to standing-room-only as they closed the parish’s 75th year with a Mass of thanksgiving on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 28.

Sun shone through the stained-glass windows that reflect the Angelus and Hail Mary prayers, and all admired the beauty of the newly repainted worship space. Fresh paint on the church exterior, organ upgrades and the installation of air conditioning are among the anniversary-year updates.

Auxiliary Bishop Octavio Cisneros was the main celebrant of the bilingual Mass in English and Spanish, which was concelebrated by Father Thomas Pettei, episcopal vicar for Queens; Father John Mendonca, pastor; Father Osmin Vargas, parochial vicar; and priests from neighboring parishes. Deacon Edwin Cancel served as homilist.

“It’s a day of jubilation,” Bishop Cisneros said, greeting the congregation. “It’s a day of giving thanks to almighty God for the past 75 years that the faith has been communicated here.”

Local Catholics communicated their need for a church to Archbishop Thomas E. Molloy back in the mid-1930s when the closest Catholic parishes were Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in Forest Hills and Ascension in Elmhurst.

His response came in the person of Father James J. Saunders, who arrived on Oct. 1, 1938. In less than a month, he had a congregation for whom he was celebrating three Sunday Masses in a vacant store on 63rd Road.

Work soon began on a proper worship space and on the feast of SS. Peter and Paul in June, 1940, the first Mass was celebrated in the newly completed church.

“Because there was no rectory, the priests lived and slept in the choir loft, the baptistery, in the back of the church, in the church basement or the sacristy,” noted Deacon Cancel, who gave some parish history in his homily.

Father Saunders’ dream of building a school, convent and rectory was realized under the second pastor. The school, staffed by the Sisters of Charity of Mount St. Vincent when it opened in 1959, continues to serve local children under the academy governance structure with a lay principal, Giuseppe Campailla, and staff.

Religious education, parish societies, retreat programs and Catholic Youth Organization sports flourished in the 1960s and ’70s as newcomers from Latin America and Korea moved into the area. Parish priests began helping families gain resident status and citizenship, while attending to their spiritual needs. The first Spanish Mass at the parish was offered on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1976.

Koreans received support from Korean-born Father Thomas Jung, who lived at the parish in the early 1970s. The Korean community eventually grew and established its own parish, St. Paul Chong Ha-Sang, Flushing.

In the late 1980s, the parish welcomed Servite Father Lawrence Martin Jenco to celebrate Mass and share his experience of being held hostage in Beirut.

The deacon was proud to point out how retired Brooklyn Bishop Thomas V. Daily visited the parish nine times to celebrate Mass and lead prayers at a local abortion clinic until it shut down. He noted that another bishop has a special connection to the church: Bishop Cisneros attended Mass at the parish when he was a young seminarian.

For these and other blessings, Deacon Cancel proclaimed: “The Lord has been very good to Our Lady of the Angelus parish.”

Today, Our Lady of the Angelus has almost 1,400 parishioners attending six weekend Masses offered in Spanish and English. Masses are offered in Tagalog on special occasions, and Father Mendonca would like to begin offering Polish Masses.

Parish Is Center of Life

“The parish is not so big and yet, it is the center of people’s lives,” shared Tita Sibayan, who joined the parish 15 years ago. “That is because our faith is alive; it is vibrant, it is active, it gives us meaning.”

Prayer groups, weekly line dancing and yoga, monthly healing Masses and an annual international food festival unite the diverse community for spiritual and social activities.

Traditional fare from every ethnic group in the parish was served at a reception following Mass.

Priya Fernandes sampled the offerings with her 5-year-old son Delroy Prithvi and 6-month-old daughter Delicia Prithika. When asked what the parish means to her, Fernandes said, “It’s everything to me.”

When this young mother moved to Rego Park from her native India over a year ago, she said she felt at home as soon as she found Our Lady of the Angelus Church.

“I’ve always been near to the Church,” said Fernandes. “Here it is very nice. Everyone helps you to grow spiritually.”