Bensonhurst School Celebrates Its Priests
In celebration of World Priest Day, St. Athanasius School, Bensonhurst, honored its parish priests, above, from right, Msgr. David Cassato, pastor, and Fathers Ronald D’Antonio and Gabriel Toro-Rivas, parochial vicars, with music, gifts and loving prayers. Nursery teacher AnnMarie Browne offered a song, and Gina Auricchio, a teacher in the learning center, read tributes to each priest as students presented them with handmade cards and gifts.
Philippe Allien, Marie DiTucci, Marion O’Connor and Barbara Reiter will be the honorees at the third annual From Here to Haiti Dinner Dance, Nov. 8, 7 p.m. at Terrace on the Park, Flushing. Tickets are $100 per person, and they must be purchased in advance.
For tickets, call Patricia Brintle, 646-209-3891, or Eddy Leveque, 631-972-2678.
Started your Christmas shopping yet? Just wait to see what American Martyrs, Bayside, has to offer at its Christmas Fair, Dec. 7-8. Vendors are still wanted. For details, contact Patricia Adams, 718-464-4582.
If you are suffering from the pain of a past abortion, know that there is hope and healing.
The Sisters of Life will host a Day of Prayer and Healing for Women on Nov. 16. For details, or to register, call toll-free 866-575-0075 or e-mail hopeandhealing@sistersoflife.org.
Congratulations to Brendan Dugan, president of St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights, who has joined the board of directors of Investors Bank, which has 11 branches in Brooklyn. Before joining the college community, Dugan was an executive level banker for over 40 years.
One year after Hurricane Sandy, the Agape Center in Breezy Point is up and running again – and ready to mark its 33rd year of providing monthly days of prayer and worship. All are invited to visit the Agape Center for a Day of Recollection: The Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, Nov. 9, 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at St. Thomas More Church. Father Peter Rayder will present the day. The donation is $10. For details, call 718-474-7729.
Tablet TALK Quote of the Week (in observance of Hurricane Sandy): “You’ll find me somewhere in Ohio on top of a high mountain on top of a tree the next time they say a storm is coming.” — Father Richard Ahlemeyer, pastor of St. Camillus-St. Virgilius, Rockaway Park.
“Big Love, Catholic Style: Three to Get Married,” will be the topic for the next Theology on Tap, Nov. 5, 7 p.m. at Singlecut Brewery, Astoria. The speakers will be husband-and-wife team, Manny and Stefanie Gutierrez, diocesan press secretary. For more details, contact Paul Morisi, 718-965-7300 ext. 5556 or pmorisi@diobrook.org.
This week’s Tip of the Tablet TALK Top Hat goes to all of Hurricane Sandy’s behind-the-scenes heroes but especially Frank and Celeste Sena of Bay Ridge and their daughter Elizabeth, a Rockaway Special Olympian.
The Sena family welcomed Joe Featherston, Rockaway Special Olympics director, his wife and son Joseph into their home as guests for two months following the storm.
Special mention also goes to St. Patrick School, Bay Ridge, which accepted about 50 students from the Rockaway Peninsula – at no charge. St. Patrick School parents also held a Thanksgiving dinner for the displaced students and their families.
As Joe Featherston put it: “That is true Christian love.”
OLG Memorial Lectern
A new song leader lectern was recently donated to Our Lady of Grace Church, Gravesend, by Father Dominic Cutrone, pastor emeritus, parishioner Mary Ann DeLuca and members of the parish athletic association in memory of Louise Gentile. A longtime member of the parish, Gentile sang in the choir, was a religious education teacher and ran parish functions. The Gentile family, above, gather around the new lectern, which was blessed at a Mass on Oct. 20.