On Sunday, March 10, Bishop William Murphy, bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, was the principal celebrant at a special solemn Mass at 11:30 a.m. at St. Patrick RC Church in Glen Cove. The Parish was founded in 1856 and the first Catholic Church was built on the hill in 1857, thus the parish is celebrating its 145th anniversary, making it the oldest Roman Catholic parish in the diocese of Rockville Centre (which is comprised of Nassau and Suffolk counties). The anniversary was celebrated in conjunction with the beginning of the parish observances of its patronal feast day: St. Patrick's Day. The Martin Moran Division #8 of the Ancient Order of Hibernians participated in the opening procession along with three pipers and the American Irish and parish flags. Celebrating with the bishop were the priests of the parish as well as many of local Catholic pastors and many priests who had been stationed in St. Patrick Parish over the years. Over 500 people were present, including our mayor, the Hon. Mary Ann Holzkamp. To commemorate the Irish heritage of the first parishioners, Edward Doohan welcomed the bishop in the Irish Gaelic language and proclaimed the New Testament reading in the Irish language. The offertory gifts were presented by members of the AOH and by members of the Hispanic community, representing gifts of first immigrants 145 years ago and the most recent immigrants of today and all the immigrants in between who have so enriched our Catholic community. St. Patrick must have been working overtime, because the Mass ended with the bishop giving a blessing in English and Father Thomas Costa, the pastor, repeating the prayer in Gaelic. After the Mass the pipers led the clergy and the congregation to the beautiful new Way of the Cross Memorial Garden, crowning the hill of St. Patrick's located behind the church and between the convent and the parish hall. There the bishop solemnly dedicated the garden, blessing the ground and praying for all whose names are inscribed on the benches and paving stones. After the blessing (and having been out in that blustery cold), everyone was invited to an informal reception in the parish hall to meet Bishop Murphy and to share a slice of soda bread and a good Irish coffee. Information about additional inscriptions in the garden may be obtained from St. Patrick's office at 676-0276.