Catholic Schools Night at Maimonides Park in Coney Island on Friday, June 21, featured a friendly softball game between principals and priests but the real MVPs were the students.

A handful of students at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Academy have earned the title of published author, with the help of their fourth grade teacher. 

Diana Olewnicki’s son has always loved to tinker. Whether it is his toy or the TV remote, 8-year-old Julian has been able to take things apart, piece by piece, and put them back together. 

DeSales Media, in conjunction with the Diocese of Brooklyn, will host a celebration of Catholic schools in Brooklyn and Queens Friday, June 21, 2024, starting at 6 p.m. at Maimonides Park, 1904 Surf Avenue in Coney Island.

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. 

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.”