Note: There will be a choral presentation of Handel’s Messiah in the Church on Sunday, December 5, the day after the creche blessing and tree lighting, at 4:00 pm. Learn more>>

Ticket prices are $40 per person and include a reception in the church vestibule following the concert. Tickets are available after all the Masses every weekend in the month of November and at the Parish Center during the week from 9 am to 2:45 pm Monday through Thursday and 9 am to 1:15 pm on Friday.

NOTE: The Blessing of the Creche and Christmas Tree Lighting will take place on Saturday evening, December 4, following 5 pm Mass. Learn More>>

See our full Advent and Christmas Schedules:

Our Giving Tree will benefit our St. Boniface Martyr Parish St. Vincent de Paul Society..

You can help your neighbors in need feel special during this Christmas season by participating in this annual event.

Due to anticipated shipping delays and supply shortages, the Giving Tree was set up early this year, and is adorned with tags designating gift cards that may be purchased.

In order to deliver gifts to our neighbors in time for Christmas, we are requesting them by Sunday, November 21. Gift card suggestions are listed below. If you prefer using a check, please make it out to St. Vincent de Paul Society with Giving Tree in the memo area. You may deposit your gift card or check in the St. Vincent dePaul donation box, deliver it to the parish center, or mail it to:

St. Boniface SVDP Giving Tree
145 Glen Avenue
Sea Cliff, NY 11579

Giving Tree Gift Card Suggestions: Amazon; American Express, Best Buy; BJ’s , Burger King, Costco, CVS, Dunkin’ Donuts; Kohl’s; McDonald’s; Macy’s; Mastercard; Old Navy; Starbucks; Stop and Shop; TJ Maxx; Visa, Walmart

Your gift will go a long way in helping those served by our parish Vincentians.

If you have any questions, please call Susan Winslow at 516-671-7058. Thank you for your generosity!

Charity is the cement which binds Communities to God and persons to one another.  – St. Vincent de Paul

St. Vincent dePaul

To date, there have been over 38 million cases of diagnosed COVID 19 patients and more than 630 thousand COVID deaths recorded since the start of this pandemic. It was recently reported that COVID 19 deaths have exceeded the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. These numbers do not include diagnosed non-COVID illnesses and deaths during the pandemic. Even if we were lucky not to lose a loved one to the virus, living in this pandemic has changed so much of how our society functions, including our day- to-day lives, how we care for the sick and the dying, and how we grieve or care for the bereaved. For the majority of the population, coping at this time was extremely stressful as we had to adjust to staying home and distancing ourselves from others.

It was especially challenging if someone you loved died during the pandemic, whether or not their death was a result of COVID-19. Social distancing guidelines made it especially difficult to safely come together to mourn the loss of a loved one, bringing drastic changes to the process of grieving. Routines and rituals that normally bring comfort weren’t readily accessible, which may increase our feelings of isolation and loss. As a result, there are likely to be many other losses that need to be mourned, such as not being able to visit a loved one in the hospital or nursing home,  not being present when a loved one died, or not being able to hold a wake and funeral.

If you have experienced any type of loss, including non- COVID deaths, you may have had to grieve alone. Even long after the loss, the felt grief may be still acute. There is a bereavement support group readily available to help you at St. Boniface Martyr. Every third Sunday of the month at 3 PM this group meets in a classroom in the school. There are no exclusions according to the causes of death, when the deaths occurred, or the nature of the relationships with the deceased.

About the St. Boniface Bereavement Group

If you have experienced any type of loss, including non- COVID deaths, you may have had to grieve alone. Even long after the loss, the felt grief may be still acute. There is a bereavement support group readily available to help you at St. Boniface Martyr. Every third Sunday of the month at 3 PM this group meets in a classroom in the school. There are no exclusions according to the causes of death, when the deaths occurred, or the nature of the relationships with the deceased. The bereavement group is facilitated by two experienced grief support persons. Registration is simple – just call (516) 676-0676, ext 131 and leave your contact information. You may also contact David Meagher at  davidkmeagher@gmail.com or Linda Rose at lrosecsw@hotmail.com.

Diocese of Rockville Centre Statement on Vaccine Exemption:

Information Regarding Requests for (Catholic) Religious Exemptions from Vaccines:

The Catholic Church does not morally oppose vaccines in and of themselves and has never taught that the use of vaccines is morally wrong. 

There is no Catholic moral or religious objection to vaccines in general (as, for example, the ones Jehovah’s Witnesses have to receiving a blood transfusion). 

“Some people are asking the Catholic Church to support a religious exemption from the COVID vaccines. This issue should be properly pursued on civil liberties grounds, or on the grounds of one’s “personal” beliefs, but not on the basis of the teachings of the Catholic Church. The Church cannot say that there is a “Catholic” religious objection to the vaccine when one does not exist.”

Diocese of Rockville Centre

Although taking vaccines is morally permitted by the teaching of the Catholic Church, is there an objection to the COVID vaccine in particular? 

The answer to this question may be found on the website of the Diocese of Rockville Centre’s Office of Human Life, Family and Bioethics (vaccinebioethics.com). 

Simply put, a Catholic can morally and licitly receive all the COVID vaccines currently available, although there are differences between them. On moral grounds, it is suggested to avoid the Johnson and Johnson vaccine and Astra Zeneca vaccines if another is available.  

Questions regarding vaccine exemptions (from a Catholic perspective) have to do with a secular civil liberties question: whether or not the government can require someone to show proof of vaccination to be permitted to do something.  For example, it is well known that in New York State, the following vaccines are required for daycare, pre-K, and all school attendance: 

• Diphtheria and Tetanus toxoid-containing vaccine and Pertussis vaccine (DTaP or Tdap) 
• Hepatitis B vaccine 
• Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine (MMR) 
• Polio vaccine 
• Varicella (Chickenpox) vaccine

Some people are asking the Catholic Church to support a religious exemption from the COVID vaccines. This issue should be properly pursued on civil liberties grounds, or on the grounds of one’s “personal” beliefs, but not on the basis of the teachings of the Catholic Church.  The Church cannot say that there is a “Catholic” religious objection to the vaccine when one does not exist. 

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul invites you to join us to walk 3.1 miles or make a donation to help.

Saturday, September 25 Bethpage Community Park

Check-in: 9 am – Walk: 10 am

Click here to register or donate online: Team Fundraiser St. Boniface Martyr Walkers

Donations may also be sent to:

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul
St. Boniface Martyr Conference
145 Glen Avenue
Sea Cliff, NY 11579

Your donation to the Friends of the Poor 5K Walk/Run could make the difference for those in temporary need in our community. If you are in a position to give financially, please help our struggling neighbors get back on their feet and on a pathway to self-sufficiency. Thank you!

Your Neighbors Need You!

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul helps approximately 150,000 Long Islanders in need each year. From the Queens-Nassau Border to the East End, we provide people struggling with the effects of poverty with the financial, material, emotional, and spiritual assistance they require to overcome poverty and become self-sufficient. We need you to continue the work we have been doing in our parish for more than 86 years.

Unable to Walk or Run? You Can Still Help . . .

by making a donation to “SVDP at St. Boniface Martyr” with the word “walk” in the memo area and placing your check in the St. Vincent de Paul box by the choir loft stairs in the church vestibule, or by mailing your donation to:

SVDP St. Boniface
145 Glen Avenue
Sea Cliff, NY,  11579

St. Boniface Martyr ministries are beginning to resume in-person meetings. Stay tuned for more . . .

St. Boniface Martyr ministries are beginning to resume in-person meetings. Stay tuned for more . . .

Meeting Third Sundays: Bereavement Support Group

Anyone dealing with the loss of a loved one is welcome. For information and details about our next meeting, contact Dr. David Meagher at 516-458-0596 or davidkmeagher@gmail.com. Learn more…

Meeting Mondays: Charismatic Prayer Group

Looking for a deeper relationship with God? You are invited to be touched by God’s love in a weekly evening of prayer with contemporary praise and worship music. Resumes meeting in person August 16, 2021, in the church narthex from 7:30 pm-8:30 pm. Call John and Rosemary Murello at 516-676-2767 for more information. Learn more…

Meeting Tuesdays: Women of Faith Book Group

Meets monthly. The morning group will resume in person on the parish center porch on July 13, 2021, from 10 am – 11 am and the evening group will resume in person on August 3, 2021, in the church narthex from 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm. We are reading My Cousin, the Saint by Justin Catanoso. New members welcome! For more information contact Pat Fox at pattomfox@gmail.com. Learn more…

Meeting Third Wednesdays: St. Vincent de Paul Society

Meets at 7:30 pm in the church narthex. Next meeting: July 21, 2021. To give thanks for all that God has given to you, have you considered answering the call to help serve the poor by joining the St. Vincent de Paul Society? Call 516-676-0676 x124 for information. Learn more…

Meeting Thursdays: Scripture Study

Resumes meeting in-person weekly on August 19, 2021, from 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm in the church narthex. We are studying the Gospel of John. Call John and Rosemary Murello at 516-676-2767 for more information. Learn more…

Meeting Third Saturdays: Lay Carmelites

Lay Carmelites of  Blessed Titus Brandsma meets monthly at 9am-12pm in the parish center. Next meeting: July 18. Contact Flora at 516-676-9375 for more information.

Updates as of June 20, 2021

• Daily Mass is celebrated at 8 am Monday through Friday.

• Sunday Mass: Saturday at 5 PM; Sunday at 9:00 AM 10:30 AM and 12 Noon.
  
• Notes:
  • The general dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday and Holy Days of Obligation Masses will end the weekend of  August 15, 2021, but everyone who is able to is invited to return to Mass now.
  • Masks: Masks are required for all unvaccinated people. For fully vaccinated people, mask-wearing is at one’s discretion. Ministers of Holy Communion need not wear masks any longer.
  • The sick or vulnerable due to age or health conditions are encouraged to remain at home. Those unable to attend in person may view our Streamed Masses (see below).
    
    
• Confessions:
  Confessions have moved to the traditional Confessional at the front of the Church.
  
  
• Parish Office: Office hours have returned to their normal schedule: Monday to Thursday 9 AM to 3 PM and Friday from 9 AM to 1:30 PM.
  
• Parish Ministries: Click here to review the schedules of our parish ministries that have reopened or are planning to reopen soon.

Streamed Masses

The 10:30 am Sunday Mass and the 8:00 am Mass Mondays through Saturdays are streamed on the internet for those unable to attend in person. We also stream other special liturgies. Families may arrange for the streaming of weddings and funerals by emailing stbonstreaming@gmail.com.

A Pastoral Letter from the Bishop

A Pilgrimage with the Lord in Holy Week.

This pastoral letter, written by Bishop John Barres in 2020 has been reissued for 2021. This Lent, make a pilgrimage in the footsteps of the Lord during the last week of His life by attending, or if that is not possible, viewing virtually, all the liturgies that take place in your local parish during Holy Week, the final week of Lent just prior to Easter. This pastoral letter will provide you an overview and explanation of the ‘places’ you will visit, the things you will see and the people you will meet on your spiritual journey. To read the letter, visit www.thegreatweek.com.