Augustine of Hippo, the preeminent fifth century philosopher, confessed to keeping concubines, including one who bore him a son. In his autobiography, Augustine admitted praying, “Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet.” Still, this self-described “slave of lust” pursued holiness. In the year 386 he converted to Christianity, due in large part to the faith of his mother, St. Monica. He went on to become a celibate priest.
Bill LaCovara, a Navy veteran of World War II who is nearing age 100, has slowed down considerably since Flag Day last year. He mostly spends his days at home. So this year, LaCovara’s fellow members of Knights of Columbus Council #11449 brought Flag Day to him.
Rose Angelicola never had children, but when she passed away last year at age 91, she left a legacy of love and commitment to young people. Angelicola bequeathed a large sum — $100,000 — to Our Lady of Hope Church in Middle Village, where she was a parishioner for more than 60 years, and the church worked with her family and the Catholic Foundation for Brooklyn and Queens to establish an endowment in her name.
Every Wednesday for the past year, Paige Winters has spent her morning at St. Ephrem Church. The parish academy student is joined by her classmates for a student Mass weekly, so by the end of her eighth grade year she was very familiar with the church and its pews.
Almost three years into retirement, with his 80th birthday on June 16, Bishop Emeritus Nicholas DiMarzio has enjoyed the change of pace. Between his two favorite hobbies — cooking and gardening — celebrating Masses on the weekends, and writing and researching immigration issues, he’s found a balance.
A good old-fashioned church picnic unfolded Saturday, June 8, on the verdant lawns surrounding the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. But this gathering included an estimated 2,500 members of the Cursillo movement from parishes in the Diocese of Brooklyn for their annual “Ultreya de Campo,” or “pilgrimage.”
Clergy and parishioners at St. Dominic Church were in shock after two statues were defaced and its glass front doors shattered in a vandal’s attack Monday afternoon, June 10, authorities and church officials said.
On Friday, May 23, Petar Vukelich did something he had never done before. He put a new set of rosary beads, a gift from his mother’s friend, around his neck. He kissed the cross, asked God to protect him, and just two hours later, he said, he received a call, giving him the news he had been waiting months for.
When Andrea Pinnavaia joined her church choir in high school, she had no idea she would be singing alongside her future husband. But it was a possibility; they lived just about 15 blocks away from each other, and their families were parishioners at Good Shepherd Church in Sheepshead Bay. Undoubtedly, at one point or another, their parents had sat next to one another in the pews.
Father Brian Jordan, as a kid attending Mass at Blessed Sacrament Church, would pause by a list of World War II veterans — living and dead — from the parish.
