IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CHURCH 21-47 29th Street ~ Astoria, New York 11105 The First Sunday of Lent March 10 th, 2019 PARISH CONTACT INFORMATION www.immacastoria.org ~ 718-728-1613 ~ info@immacastoria.org ~ 718-956-9229 (Parish Website) (Main Telephone Number) (Main Email) (Fax Number)
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION PARISH DIRECTORY MASS SCHEDULE SATURDAY 7:00AM Weekday Mass 9:00AM Weekday Mass 5:00PM Sunday Vigil Mass PARISH DEVOTIONS MIRACULOUS MEDAL NOVENA Monday after the 9:00AM Mass with Rosary, and at 5:00PM with Rosary and Evening Prayer. SUNDAY Upper Church 7:00AM Low Mass (Mass Without Music) 9:00AM Family Mass 10:30AM High Mass (Mass with Choir) 12:00PM Spanish Mass/Español 1:30PM Contemporary Music Mass Lower Church 9:00AM Italian Mass/Italiano MONDAY TO FRIDAY 7:00AM, 9:00AM & 12:00PM CONFESSIONS The Sacrament of Confession is available Saturdays from 4:00PM to 4:45PM. The languages generally available are English, Spanish and Italian. Appointments for Confession outside this time can be made by contacting the Rectory Office. RECTORY OFFICE HOURS Monday Friday 9:00AM 12:30PM / 1:30PM 8:00PM Saturday Sunday 9:00AM 4:00PM Office is Closed Immaculate Conception Catholic Academy Ms. Eileen Harnischfeger, Principal 718-728-1969 - www.iccaastoria.org Religious Education Office (CCD) Mrs. Marylyn Crum, Director 718-956-4494 - mcrum@immacastoria.org CLERGY Rev. Msgr. Fernando Ferrarese.......Pastor Rev. Liju Augustine, CMI........Parochial Vicar Rev. William A. McLaughlin.....Parochial Vicar Dcn. Francisco Hernandez Dcn. Elkin Tamayo In Residence: Rev. Msgr. Charles Patrick Boccio Rev. Msgr. Vincent Fullam WEEKDAY EUCHARISTIC ADORATION The Blessed Sacrament is exposed for adoration from the end of the 7:00AM Mass to before the start of the 9:00AM Mass every weekday and Saturdays. The Rosary is prayed communally beginning at 8:20AM, and Morning Prayer is celebrated at 8:45AM. FIRST FRIDAY DEVOTION Every first Friday of the month, the Blessed Sacrament is exposed from after the 12:00PM Mass through the Parish Holy Hour from 7:00PM to 8:00PM. FIRST SATURDAY DEVOTION As a Parish specially dedicated to Our Blessed Mother, we as a community dedicate the first Saturday of every month to honoring her. This devotion includes the communal praying of the Rosary at 8:15AM, the celebration of Morning Prayer at 8:45AM, and the celebration of Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary at 9:00AM, where the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is also celebrated. OTHER SACRAMENTS Baptisms Baptisms for infants and children are celebrated monthly. Please contact the Rectory Office for an appointment. Sick Calls Please contact the Rectory Office at any time. Only use the Emergency Number for cases of Extreme Unction (Last Rites). Holy Matrimony (Marriages) Please make an appointment to meet with a Priest at least six (6) months before the desired wedding date. Please check with the Church before contacting the Catering Hall. CCD & RCIA If you or someone you know is interested in completing, or receiving all, the Sacraments of Initiation, please contact Mrs. Marylyn Crum of the Religious Education Office for more information.
Liturgical Resolutions Part II Last week, we looked at two ways in which we can enhance our Lenten practice by making some basic changes in our way of participating at Mass (Liturgical Resolutions Part I, 03/03/19). I would like to continue our suggestions this week so that Lent may be a time of spiritual renewal for our whole congregation. For when individual parishioners work at making the Liturgy more meaningful for themselves, it benefits the whole parish. So here are some more suggestions: 3. Sing or at least Look at the Word Have you ever seen or been present for a Protestant Church s Service? I have on a number of occasions. It was truly thrilling to hear the whole congregation sing a hymn together! Most Catholics have never experienced this before! Hymns are prayers that when sung have a double efficacy. St. Augustine says plainly: He who sings prays twice! Sometimes, Catholics say that they cannot sing since they don t know the music of the hymn. But I have observed that even in the Christmas season, when the Carols are known by everyone, still you hear the organist and the leader of song, but the congregation stands mute! Who can say that they don t know Silent Night? Why Catholics don t sing has spawned many books and explanations, but it is a blotch on our faith and its expression. Even if you do not know the hymn, and maybe are too shy to raise your voice in praise to God, you can at least open the Missalette and follow the words of the hymn! What a wonderful thing it would be to see everyone with the Missalette open and following the course of the prayer. To stand or sit and stare during a hymn is a statement of unbelief in the sacred action of communal prayer and spreads bad example to new members of a congregation. Even this simple suggestion can make of our experience of the Liturgy something powerful and loving! 4. Stay Until the End of Mass In Thomas Merton s landmark coming-of-age spiritual journal Seven Storey Mountain, he relates that, soon after his conversion, he went to a parish Church in Queens near where his grandparents lived. The Church will go nameless, but I will say that it is not ours! He writes about arriving early for Sunday Mass and being almost trampled by people exiting the previous Mass when the Priest had not even ended that Mass! Not a great legacy for a congregation! While sometimes the priest over the usual one-hour and one needs to get back home (to stir the sauce!), to habitually leave immediately after receiving Holy Communion or before the priest has gotten to the doors of the Church in the recessional procession screams out, I don t want to be here and the sooner I get out the better! Making a simple Act of Thanksgiving after Mass is a beautiful way of ending our time at Mass each week (or each day!). It balances the advice I gave last week about coming early for Mass. It says to oneself: this is important and I am going to take my time with it. 5. Live the Christian Life Intentionally Sometimes my Dad argued with my Mom about being forced to go to Church on Sundays. He went every day to Mass before work at the Shoe factory in SoHo. But he did not like Church law forcing him to go on Sunday. He thought it should be freely chosen. The argument he used was about a neighbor in the building we lived in. When she got home from Church, you could hear her screaming at her husband. My Dad would call attention to this and say to my Mom: Sunday Mass did not make a big difference in that house! He had a point. If we really and truly understood the greatness of the Mass, our lives should change for the better. When the Priest says, The Mass is ended. Go in peace, there should be a discernible difference in us. It should make our lives and the lives of our loved ones better and more peaceful. In the end, it s my Dad s criterion of action which is the most clarifying. If we truly attend Mass with the right dispositions and try to participate with an open heart, it should make a practical difference in our lives. It is it s own validation. Attendance alone is not enough. It is my hope that these five Resolutions will, if accepted, change your spiritual and liturgical outlook for the better during this year s Lenten season! exäa `ÉÇá zçéü YxÜÇtÇwÉ YxÜÜtÜxáx
SUNDAY March 10 7:00AM For the People of the Parish (Pro Populo) 9:00AM Joseph Cseri (10th. Anniv.) 10:30AM Benedetto Zito 12:00PM Spanish: Ruth Magdalena Matute; Jose Luis Benitez 1:30PM Joseph Weinhofer Lower Church: 9:00AM Italian: Gennaro Ranieri SUNDAY March 17 7:00AM For the People of the Parish (Pro Populo) 9:00AM Gizella & Ignac Cseri 10:30AM Paula Celeste Antos 12:00PM Spanish: Antony Iurato, Mary Arevalo, Luz Helen Patino, Cecilia Andrade 1:30PM Jane Banker Lower Church: 9:00AM Italian: Angela & Rocco Tenaglia MONDAY March 11 7:00AM Anna Shelley 9:00AM Kathrin Deda 12:00PM Luiz V. Pizani TUESDAY March 12 7:00AM Frank & Nancy Pisido 9:00AM Flor Hernandez Torres 12:00PM Harold & Elsie Smith WEDNESDAY March 13 7:00AM Carmela & Vincent Nigrelli 9:00AM Giovanni Tenaglia 12:00PM Concetta Bartolotta MEMORIALS THE GIFTS OF BREAD & WINE are donated this week in loving memory of Amato Russo, requested by Ersilia Troisi & Family. THE ALTAR CANDLES are donated this week in loving memory of Amato Russo, requested by Ersilia Troisi & Family. THE FIRST SANCTUARY LAMP is donated this week in loving memory of Amato Russo, requested by Ersilia Troisi & Family. THE SECOND SANCTUARY LAMP is donated this week in loving memory of Amato Russo, requested by Ersilia Troisi & Family. THURSDAY March 14 7:00AM Edilberta De La Rosa 9:00AM Joseph Mulé 12:00PM Giulio Salvatore DiVirgilio FRIDAY March 15 7:00AM Edilberta De La Rosa 9:00AM Rosalba Lopez 12:00PM Alice Bradshaw SATURDAY March 16 7:00AM The Purgatorial Society 9:00AM Baby Rocco (Birth. Remem.) & Iolana Cangemi 5:00PM Angelo & Josephine Mifsud Please pray for all the faithful departed, especially... John F. Jurano Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon them. PLEASE KEEP THEM ALL IN YOUR PRAYERS
NEW DEACON JOINING PARISH My Sisters and Brothers of Immaculate Conception, It is with great pleasure that I announce the addition of a new Deacon to our Parish: Tom Quinn! Below is a message from him to us all: My name is Tom Quinn. My family and I moved to Astoria last month. I was ordained a Deacon in 2016 and have been serving in that capacity at St. Patrick in Bay Shore since then. This coming June, my wife Jane and I will be married 30 years! We have one daughter, Kathleen Mary. After 9 years as a New York City Police Officer and 20 years with the FDNY, I am now retired. Feeling called to return to the Church of my 1959 Baptism, I am looking forward to meeting and serving all of you here at Immaculate Conception Parish. I would like to thank Msgr. Ferrarese for this warm welcome and for giving me this opportunity to serve and not be served! Please be assured of my prayers for all of the clergy, staff, and parishioners here, and may I ask for your prayers as I begin this new journey here in Astoria! - Deacon Tom 2019 ANNUAL CATHOLIC APPEAL This week begins the 2019 Annual Catholic Appeal. We thank all who have participated with a gift to the 2018 Appeal and ask that everyone prayerfully consider making a gift to the 2019 Appeal. The work and services made possible through your donations to the Annual Catholic Appeal help people in Brooklyn and Queens in ways that no one parish can alone. Please remain assured that your gift to the Annual Catholic Appeal cannot be used in the settlement of abuse claims or for anything other than their intended purpose. We encourage all to watch a brief 2019 ACA Video online at: CFBQ.org/ACAVideo On behalf of all the clergy, staff, and parishioners of our Church, I would like to warmly welcome Deacon Tom into our Parish family! I know that we will all support him and his family as they make their move to Astoria, and I pray that his ministry here at Immac will bear great fruit in our faith community! Sincerely in Christ, Msgr. Fernando Ferrarese, Pastor
The Italian Community of Immaculate Conception Church cordially invites you to our... ANNUAL DINNER DANCE Fundraiser for Our Parish SUNDAY, MARCH 24th, 2019 1:00PM 5:00PM Immaculate Conception Catholic Academy Hall 21-63 29th Street, Astoria NY, 11105 There will be a Hot Buffet, Wine, Soda, Coffee, Tea, Desserts, and more! Authentic Italian Music by Ron Dellapina. Tickets are $50 per person and must be purchased no later than Sunday, March 17th, 2019. No tickets will be sold at the door! Please make checks payable to Immaculate Conception Church. For Reservations, please call 718-278-0274 or 718-932-4261.