St. Rosalie's R.C. Church

This morning I went to 11am Mass in St. Rosalie's Church in Hampton Bays (about 1 mile away). I cycled there in about 10 minutes and the had a place to park your bike (a rarity in the States). I was the only cyclist attending Mass. There is a sign on the front that says 'St. Rosalie's R.C. Church welcomes you'. I have never seen the letters R.C., to denote Roman Catholic, used before.

It was a really professional setup that really put most parishes in Ireland to shame. The church was completely full and there was a choir. They have what looks like a sound proof room for families with small children at the back of the church (a really good idea, I think). They had ushers in red sports jackets that guided people to free seats (shortage of seats is not a problem that we have in Ireland). It was a mostly elderly population attending. A funny thing that I noticed in their newsletter was the ammount taken in at last week's collection and the previous year to see if it went up or down.

After Mass, I took some photos of the inside of the church. The photo above is the window above the altar. Christ is surrounded by various kinds of food. Nature was a big theme in the church. All of the windows had images of trees, animals or food.

After Mass, there was a reception with biscuits and bagels. I met a couple with ancestors from all over Ireland (they had been to Ireland many times). They usually live in Manhatten but have a summer home here (this is a real summer area). I then met the priest, who is from Goa, India. He is a very friendly man (very outgoing) and a funny character. He told me that almost everyone in the church had Irish connections. As I left, he gave me a blessing and wished me the best of luck in my job search.