From a reader:
We are making an urgent appeal for prayers that our parish Latin Mass will not be eliminated in the coming weeks. Msgr. James Lisante, our pastor, informed us at a meeting yesterday that he is leaning heavily towards replacing the weekly Sunday 1:30 p.m. parish Latin Mass with an "English Mass." He cited, among other reasons for this substitution, low attendance and poor collections.The weekly Sunday Latin Mass in the Extraordinary Form at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Massapequa Park was established by the former pastor, Fr. Robert Mason, in September of 2007, immediately after Summorum Pontificum was issued. Two years ago when Fr. Mason retired, it was moved from a morning time slot to 1:30 in the afternoon, but has maintained a consistent attendance of between 75-100 people every week for three years. The current pastor was concerned by the $400 average weekly collection, he told us yesterday, which the business manager (present at yesterday's meeting to discuss the future of the Mass) claims is the lowest collection every week.We are asking for prayers for our pastor, Msgr. James Lisante, as he makes this decision, and for the Bishop of Rockville Center, Bishop William Murphy. If you would like to call, urging them to please preserve this important diocesan Latin Mass, the contact numbers for both are below:1-516-541-3270 (Our Lady of Lourdes Rectory)1-516-678-5800 (Diocese of Rockville Centre Chancery)
