FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 1, 2023

Bishop Robert Brennan, Bishop of Brooklyn, celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Paul Chong Ha-Sang Roman Catholic Church located in the Flushing section of Queens this past weekend. At the conclusion of the Mass, a reception was held in the parish hall which featured traditional Korean food, dance, song, and music.

The 50^th Anniversary Mass was celebrated exactly 50 years to the day of the first Korean Mass celebrated by St. Paul Chong Ha-Sang Church held on April 29, 1973. The initial parish Mass was celebrated by Father Thomas Jung and attended by 37 people at Our Lady of the Angelus Church in Rego Park. In June of 1984, the current site of the Church was purchased, and the new Church building was consecrated on October 28, 1990.

“50 years ago Brooklyn and Queens, especially Flushing, saw the arrival of a growing community of immigrants from Korea, helping to shape our neighborhoods with Korean culture. They brought many blessings with them, but most importantly they brought their faith. Beginning at Our Lady of the Angelus Church, a parish community was built and eventually, this beautiful Church was built,” said Bishop Robert Brennan, in his homily, acknowledging the original members of the parish in attendance and thanking them for what they have passed on.

During the Mass, Bishop Brennan presented Papal Honors to 15 of the parishioners, and Katarina Choi presented the Bishop with the full transcription of the four Gospels in Korean. The parish prayer group presented records of their recitation of more than 509,000 decades of the Rosary, with a goal to recite one million decades of the Rosary by the end of the anniversary year.

Since its founding 50 years ago, the parish has baptized over 7,000 people and more than 1,000 marriages have been officiated at St. Paul Chong Ha-Sang Church. Today, over 1,500 people attend weekend Masses at the parish.  Father Andrew Kim is the current Pastor of St. Paul Chong Ha-Sang Roman Catholic Church.

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Bishop Robert Brennan, Bishop of Brooklyn, joined the Polish communities of numerous parishes in Brooklyn this morning to bless the faithful’s Easter food baskets. The Polish tradition includes colorful baskets filled with items such as eggs, meat, sweets, and bread. The food has special significance and is typically blessed on Holy Saturday and enjoyed on Easter Sunday.

“It was important for me to be with the Polish community on Holy Saturday to share in the joy of their rich heritage. During Lent, we fasted because we love Jesus, and now we get to celebrate His glorious Resurrection. It was wonderful to see so many families come out with their beautiful baskets to ask for God’s blessings. In my best Polish, I told them, Szczęść Boże, God Bless you,” said Bishop Robert Brennan.

Video of blessings:  https://vimeo.com/815905567 / Courtesy: DeSales Media

:00-:57    St. Stanislaus Kostka – 607 Humboldt Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn

:58-1:47  St. Frances de Chantal – 1273 58^th Street, Borough Park, Brooklyn

1:48-2:37 Our Lady of Czestochowa-St Casimir Parish – 224 24th St, Park Slope, Brooklyn

 

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Bishop Robert Brennan, Bishop of Brooklyn, will mark this year’s Easter Triduum, the holiest days of the Christian calendar, with a number of Masses, prayer services, and a Good Friday procession beginning tomorrow night, Holy Thursday, April 6, 2023, and continuing through Easter Sunday, April 9, 2023.

Members of the media are invited to attend any of the following:

Thursday, April 6, 2023
7:30 P.M. The Mass of the Lord’s Supper and the Washing of the Feet
The Cathedral Basilica of St. James, 250 Cathedral Place in Downtown Brooklyn

*Live coverage on the Diocesan cable channel, NET TV is available on Spectrum channel 97, Optimum channel 30, and Verizon Fios channel 548, or online at netny.tv

Good Friday, April 7, 2023

10:00 A.M. – The Way of the Cross Good Friday Procession
Starting at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James and continuing over the Brooklyn Bridge

3:00 P.M. – The Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion
Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, 856 Pacific Street in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn

*Live coverage on the Diocesan cable channel, NET TV is available on Spectrum channel 97, Optimum channel 30, and Verizon Fios channel 548, or online at netny.tv

Saturday, April 8, 2023

10:00 A.M. Blessing of Easter Food Baskets with the Polish community
St. Frances de Chantal (in Polish) – 1273 58^th Street, Borough Park, Brooklyn

11:30 A.M. Blessing of Easter Food Baskets with the Polish community
St. Stanislaus Kostka (English and Polish) 607 Humboldt Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn

8:00 P.M. The Great Easter Vigil
The Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, 856 Pacific Street, Brooklyn

*Live coverage on the Diocesan cable channel, NET TV is available on Spectrum channel 97, Optimum channel 30, and Verizon Fios channel 548, or online at netny.tv

Sunday, April 9, 2023

11:00 A.M. Easter Sunday Mass
Cathedral Basilica of St. James, 250 Cathedral Place, Brooklyn

*Live coverage on the Diocesan cable channel, NET TV is available on Spectrum channel 97, Optimum channel 30, and Verizon Fios channel 548, or online at netny.tv

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***MEDIA ADVISORY***

BISHOP BRENNAN TO BLESS HOLY OILS AT CHRISM MASS

Bishop Robert Brennan will celebrate the annual Chrism Mass tonight, Tuesday, April 4, 2023, at 7:30 p.m., at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, 856 Pacific Street, in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. During the Mass, the bishop will bless the oils used by priests all year. He will also lead more than 280 priests and bishops in renewing their promises of service to the Church.

The Chrism Mass is one of the most solemn and significant liturgies of the Catholic Church. It is marked by the ceremonial blessing of the oil of catechumens, the oil of the sick, and the consecration of the oil of chrism, which will be used in all churches of the Diocese of Brooklyn throughout the liturgical year. The oils are used to anoint the sick, baptize catechumens and infants, ordain priests, and anoint altars. This Mass is celebrated in dioceses around the world.

Members of the media are invited to attend.

Live coverage of the Chrism Mass begins at 7:30 p.m. on NET TV. The Brooklyn Diocesan Cable Channel is available on Channel 97 (Spectrum), Channel 30 (Optimum), and Channel 548 (Fios).

Viewers can also watch the programming live on NET TV’s website at www.netny.tv/watchnow.

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BISHOP BRENNAN LEADS PALM SUNDAY PROCESSIONS IN BROOKLYN

            Bishop Robert Brennan began Holy Week with a special Palm Sunday Procession in Spanish at 12:30 p.m. today at Grand Army Plaza in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. After an opening prayer and the blessing of the palms, Bishop Brennan led the pilgrims in procession down Vanderbilt Avenue to the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, located at 856 Pacific Street.  (Video below)

Palm Sunday commemorates the triumphant entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem, where those who greeted Jesus waved palms and set them on the ground along His path. Palms are recognized as a symbol of victory and peace.

“We have begun Holy Week here on the streets of Brooklyn imitating the crowd that cried out to the Lord in the holy city of Jerusalem: processing through the streets, welcoming him with songs of praise, ‘Hosanna! Long live the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in heaven! Now we contemplate the deepest mysteries of our faith: the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and his gift of life, given for us in the Eucharist,’” said Bishop Robert Brennan.

            At 4 p.m. today, Bishop Brennan will lead a Nazarene procession with the Venezuelan community, with the carrying of the Cross. After catechesis and prayers at St. Michael-St. Malachy, located at 237 Jerome Street in East New York, Brooklyn, the procession begins and makes its way toward St. Gabriel’s at 749 Linwood St, also in East New York.

PALM SUNDAY PROCESSION VIDEO – PROSPECT HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN
COURTESY: DeSales Media/Diocese of Brooklyn

https://vimeo.com/814041828

:00 Bishop Brennan blesses the palms at Grand Army Plaza
:08 Procession leaves Grand Army Plaza
:50 Procession along Vanderbilt Avenue
2:09 Procession arrives at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph for Mass

Procession begins at the Arch

Bishop Robert Brennan will begin Holy Week with a special Palm Sunday Procession in Spanish beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 2, 2023, at Grand Army Plaza in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. After an opening prayer and blessing, Bishop Brennan will lead the pilgrims in procession at approximately 12:45 p.m. with their blessed palms down Vanderbilt Avenue to the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, located at 856 Pacific Street. 

Palm Sunday commemorates the triumphant entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem, where those who greeted Jesus waved palms and set them on the ground along His path. Palms are recognized as a symbol of victory and peace.

Bishop Brennan will be joined by Father Christopher Heanue, the Rector of the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph. Following the procession, Bishop Brennan will celebrate the 1:30 p.m. Spanish Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph.

Members of the media are invited to attend and are encouraged to confirm their attendance.

The Palm Sunday Procession will be aired live on the Brooklyn Diocesan Cable Channel, NET-TV, available on Channel 97 (Spectrum), Channel 30 (Optimum), and Channel 548 (Fios).

A clean pool feed of the procession can be found on NY POOL 1 at The Switch from noon to 4 PM EDT on Sunday 4/2.

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Bishop Robert Brennan of the Diocese of Brooklyn, in partnership with Timothy Cardinal Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York and Bishop John Barres of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, invites Catholics to confession on Reconciliation Monday, which will be held this year on Monday, April 3. Churches in the two dioceses and the archdiocese will be open for Catholics to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation in advance of Easter.

Every church within the Diocese of Brooklyn will have a priest available for walk-in confessions from 2 PM to 4 PM, and from 6 PM to 9 PM. The scheduled times are the same in the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Reconciliation Monday allows the faithful an opportunity to confess their sins in anonymity, as they can go to a parish different from their own.

“Reconciliation Monday is an opportunity to experience the healing power of our Lord. The call to reconciliation before Easter is a powerful one, as we come before the Lord to ask for His mercy and His peace. I encourage many to take the time to confess their sins, so they can prepare for our Lord’s Resurrection free of burdens,” said Bishop Robert Brennan.

To find a parish near you in Brooklyn or Queens, visit dioceseofbrooklyn.org.

 

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