St. Rose of Lima Parish sits at 2 Bayview Avenue in Massapequa, just off Merrick Road on the South Shore of Long Island. Since November 1952 it has served as the Catholic spiritual home for more than 6,000 families in the greater Massapequa area, gathering them around four Sunday Masses, an attached parish school, a music program that runs from Cherub Choir to a semi-professional SATB ensemble, and a long roster of ministries for children, teens, couples, women, men, and the bereaved. The parish belongs to the Diocese of Rockville Centre and is pastored by Father Gerard Gentleman, the parish's seventh pastor, who was installed on October 3, 2021.
Seven Decades on Merrick Road
The parish was created in response to the postwar building boom that filled Massapequa and Massapequa Park with new homes in the early 1950s. Bishop Thomas Molloy of the Brooklyn Diocese charged Msgr. Edmund Fitzgerald of Corpus Christi in Mineola with acquiring 4.5 acres on Merrick Road for a new parish, and in November 1952 Father Francis Burns became its first pastor. The first Mass on November 16, 1952 drew more than 1,400 worshippers to a large white summer mansion built in the 1860s, which served as rectory and church for several years. Within weeks the schedule had grown from two Sunday Masses to four, a choir had been organized with a donated organ from St. William the Abbot in Seaford, and laymen and women had launched the Rosary Society, the Altar Society, and the Holy Name Society.
By 1955 a census counted 2,500 families in the parish. After Father Burns died in December 1958, Father Hugh Graham became pastor in March 1959 and broke ground for a 24-classroom school and a convent for 20 sisters. The school opened in 1960 for grades 1-6 and grew through eighth grade in 1963, staffed by the Amityville Dominican Sisters. In March 1965 Bishop Walter Kellenberg, the first Bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, blessed the present church building. Father Ronald Barry succeeded Father Graham in 1975, expanding ministries for young and old alike, founding the Summer Family Festival, launching the Peace and Justice program, and bringing in Sister Loyola Curtin to oversee what became Parish Outreach. Monsignor Daniel Hurley pastored the parish from 1995 to 2008, and Father Kenneth M. Zach served a 13-year term that ended in June 2021. The parish celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2002 and its 60th in November 2012, and now looks toward its 75th anniversary in 2027.
Windows of the Patron Saint
Inside the church, ten stained-glass windows tell the story of St. Rose of Lima, the 17th-century Peruvian Dominican whose name the parish bears. The first window shows the Virgin Mary holding a rose over the infant St. Rose in the cradle, the vision that led her parents to rename her. Later windows depict her receiving Communion, her contemplative life, her vision of St. Catherine of Siena, the Christ Child holding a rose, her embroidery and prayer, the hermitage she built in her family's garden, her time hanging on a cross as a meditation on Christ's suffering, and her prayerful mortification. The final window presents St. Rose as protectress of the poor and needy, the contemplative who also cared for those around her, a model the parish points to in its own outreach work.
A Sunday Built Around Four Masses
Sunday at St. Rose begins on Saturday evening with the 5:15 pm vigil Mass and continues the next morning with four liturgies, each with its own character. The 8:00 am Mass is offered in the church and live-streamed on Facebook and YouTube. The 10:00 am Mass is the Family Mass, organized by a lay committee that meets monthly and welcomes children as greeters, song-sheet distributors, and readers of the Prayer of the Faithful. The 12:00 pm Mass is the Choir Mass, anchored by the semi-professional Parish Choir. The 5:15 pm Mass is the Contemporary Music Mass, led by a contemporary group under the direction of Liam Gordon.
Weekday Masses are celebrated Monday through Friday at 7:30 am and 9:00 am, with an evening Mass on Monday at 7:30 pm followed by a Holy Hour until 9:00 pm. Saturday brings an 8:00 am Mass in addition to the vigil. On civic holidays the daily schedule reduces to 7:30 am and 9:00 am. Mass intentions can be arranged through the rectory, either announced or unannounced, with cards available at a range of offerings.
Reconciliation, Anointing, and the Other Sacraments
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is celebrated on Saturdays from 4:00 to 5:00 pm in the church and again Monday through Friday after the 9:00 am Mass, with priests also available by appointment. The Anointing of the Sick is offered monthly at a communal celebration and can be arranged at any time by calling the rectory. Funerals are usually coordinated through a funeral director; the parish supplies a Funeral Liturgy Worksheet, a Personal History Worksheet, two General Intercessions forms, and a music selection sheet to help families plan a fitting liturgy.
Baptisms are celebrated most Sundays at 2:00 pm. Parents are asked to contact the rectory for a brief interview with a deacon or priest three months before the birth of their child, then choose a date and complete required paperwork. First-time parents attend an in-person preparation class; subsequent children use the Reborn Sacramental video course on FORMED.org. The parish has published a detailed list of requirements for godparents, including the rule that one Catholic godfather or godmother is the norm, that a sponsor must be at least 16 and confirmed, and that a baptized non-Catholic may stand together with a Catholic sponsor only as a witness.
Marriage preparation at the parish includes FOCCUS, a self-diagnostic instrument facilitated by trained married couples, a one-day Pre-Cana program held at the rectory from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm, and a corps of wedding rehearsal volunteers who walk couples through the ceremony. Adults who wish to enter the Church or complete their initiation can join OCIA, the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, coordinated through Deacon Tommy Elliott.
Music from Cherub Choir to a Semi-Professional SATB
Music is woven through nearly every Sunday Mass and most of the major liturgies of the year. The Parish Choir, founded more than forty years ago as a semi-professional SATB ensemble, sings at the 12:00 pm Mass and at the great feasts. Its repertoire runs from Renaissance motets to contemporary sacred works, and over the years it has performed Faure's Requiem, Handel's Messiah, Gounod's Messe Solennelle with the former Diocesan Choir of Rockville Centre, Vivaldi's Gloria, and Dubois's Seven Last Words of Christ.
The Cherub Choir gathers singers in grades K-2, and the Children's Choir welcomes grades 3-8; both enrich the Family Mass on a bi-monthly schedule. Two handbell ensembles ring at the Family Mass as well, a Youth Bell Ensemble for elementary and middle school students and an Advanced Bell Ensemble for middle school and high school students. The director of music and organist, John Buckel, oversees the program from the Moller pipe organ and two grand pianos: a 6-foot Yamaha added to the front of the sanctuary in 2022 and a 6-foot Steinway added to the choir loft in 2024 through the Alice Hartley Foundation. Parish cantors Matt Bayen, Amanda Varelakis, and Caitlin Scharar share singing duties across the schedule, while Liam Gordon leads the contemporary music group at the 5:15 pm Mass and Diane Griffin directs the children's choirs.
Family Mass, CYO, and the Family Ministry
The 10:00 am Sunday Mass is the heart of the parish's family life. The Family Mass Committee meets monthly in the rectory board room to plan liturgies and seasonal celebrations, and the Family Mass Chorale (grades 4-8 and high school choir leaders), the Youth Bell Choir, and the Junior Bell Choir all contribute. Hospitality events follow many of the Family Masses: a Lent Funday on the first Sunday of Lent, an Easter Resurrection Bunny Breakfast on the second Sunday of Easter, and a Pentecost cake reception that doubles as a parish birthday party.
St. Rose of Lima CYO, the parish's Catholic Youth Organization, offers sports for children from kindergarten through grade 12, with an emphasis on sportsmanship and fair play. Its office is reached through the parish phone at 516.709.0260 and the email office@strosecyo.org.
Faith Formation and the OCIA
The Faith Formation office, located at 4702 Merrick Road, coordinates religious education for parish children and the OCIA process for adults. Gracemarie Rozea serves as Faith Formation Coordinator, and the office invites all adults in the parish to consider becoming catechists. Preparation for First Eucharist and Confirmation is generally done through the office for children, while adults prepare through OCIA.
The Rosary Society and the Men of Solidarity
The Rosary Society is a community of prayerful women who meet monthly to honor the Blessed Mother through the Rosary, support parish initiatives, and grow in faith together. Each Monday evening at 7:00 pm, the Rosary Society joins with the Men of Solidarity in the church to pray the Rosary. The Men of Solidarity is a fraternity of Catholic men who gather for the study of Scripture, presentations and discussion, and service projects in the parish and the wider community; the group is moderated by Deacon Sean Cotter and Deacon Mike Gambardella.
Youth and Young Adult Ministries
Thomas Griffin, the Pastoral Associate, coordinates the parish's evangelization efforts, working alongside JT Parker of Five Loaves Ministries. Middle school students are invited to Faith and Sports on Friday evenings; high school students have Encounter Night, an evening of prayer, fun, and service; and the Sunday Conversations series meets after the 12:00 pm Mass in the church with refreshments and a short talk. The Parish Holy Hour, held once a month on the third Wednesday at 7:30 pm, brings adoration, live music, and an inspirational speaker to the church.
Parish Outreach and Bereavement
Parish Outreach, also called Parish Social Ministry, is led by Co-coordinators Sister Carol Radosti and Ann Hedgis. Through direct services, advocacy, and organizing, the office reaches parishioners and neighbors who are struggling with material or emotional need. Respect Life work is rooted here as well, with a monthly committee meeting and a broader mission of prayer, education, advocacy, care, and encouragement on issues from conception to natural death. The bereavement ministry supports widows and widowers through the Sunshine Social Group, families who have lost someone to substance use through Grasp, and survivors of suicide loss through A Place for Hope, and it can refer parishioners to outside groups when a particular need falls outside the parish's offerings. The Ministry of Consolation offers a quiet, prayerful presence to families at the time of a death.
The Fr. Graham Center, the parish's gathering space, hosts a wide range of recovery meetings on a weekly schedule. Al-Anon meets on Wednesdays at 1:00 pm, Alcoholics Anonymous meets on Thursdays at 7:30 pm, the Charismatic Prayer Group meets on Wednesdays at 3:15 pm, and the Centering Prayer Group gathers in the chapel on the first and third Thursdays of the month. My Club, a social group for women typically 55 and over, meets on the last Tuesday of the month.
The Parish School
St. Rose of Lima School, located at 4704 Merrick Road, serves students from kindergarten through eighth grade under Principal Brian E. Jensen. The school opened in 1960 with grades 1-6, expanded through eighth grade in 1963, and has been a presence on the parish grounds ever since. The school has its own phone line at 516.541.1546 and its own page at stroseschool.net, and it partners with the parish for sacramental preparation and many of the parish's family events.
Stewardship, Memorials, and the Tree of Life
The parish describes its work as the work of a Stewardship: receiving God's gifts gratefully, cultivating them responsibly, sharing them in love and justice, returning them with increase, and standing before the Lord accountable. Sunday collections by envelope remain the primary source of income, and online giving is available through ParishSoft. Active registered parishioners receive weekly envelopes; children use a parallel set of stewardship envelopes that emphasize time and talent.
Two long-running fundraising programs put money in the parish's hands without costing parishioners extra. The gift card program allows the parish to earn a rebate on supermarket cards sold at face value after weekend Masses on the first weekend of each month and on retail cards ordered around the holidays. Memorial donations, ranging from $30 to $125, cover the cost of liturgical items used for a week at a time, with an acknowledgement in the bulletin and a keepsake certificate for the family. The Tree of Life, displayed in the back of the church, offers leaves engraved for a loved one at $2,000 each, with monthly payment plans available. Donations of retirement assets are also coordinated through the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
Visiting and Joining the Parish
Visitors driving in will find the main parking lot entrance off Merrick Road, with the front door of the church on the same road; two additional entrances lead into the church from the parking lot and two more from Bayview Avenue. An alternate lot entrance is available by heading south on Bayview Avenue and turning left onto William Street.
The rectory, at 2 Bayview Avenue, is open with a receptionist Monday through Thursday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm, Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Saturday from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, and Sunday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. The office closes from 1:00 to 2:00 pm for lunch on weekdays. New parishioners can register in person or by downloading a fillable form and emailing it to lindam@srolchurch.org.
Live-streamed Masses, daily and weekly bulletins, the photo gallery, and the parish calendar (with options to subscribe through Google Calendar, Outlook, or an .ics file) are all available online. The Facebook page, YouTube channel, and Instagram account keep the parish connected to those who cannot be in the pews.