A Tower of Faith on 29th Street
Immaculate Conception Church rises at the corner of 29th Street and Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria, Queens, a stone-and-bell-tower reminder that this corner of northwestern Queens has been Catholic ground for a hundred years. The parish was established in January 1924 by Bishop Thomas E. Molloy, who assigned Father Michael D. Lopez to found a new church in what was then called the Arleigh Section of Queens. The first Mass was celebrated in the home of Dr. John J. Dempsey, principal of P.S. 85, before the cornerstone of the original church-and-school complex was laid in July of that year. By October 1924, Father Lopez was saying Mass in the basement of the new building, and the Holy Name, Rosary and Altar Societies were already at work. The Sisters of St. Francis of the Mt. Hope Community staffed the school from the start, and the parish has been educating children in the neighborhood ever since.
A century later, the parish that began in a doctor's parlor fills its Upper Church several times a day. Six Sunday Masses draw hundreds of worshippers each week in English, Spanish and Italian, and a separate Filipino Apostolate Mass keeps Tagalog-speaking parishioners rooted in the same parish family. The community that surrounds the church reflects Astoria itself: families who have worshipped here for generations alongside newcomers from the Philippines, Latin America and Italy. The parish describes itself as a "vibrant spiritual home" and a "tower of faith on 29th Street," and the rhythm of bells, choirs and languages is what gives that identity its substance.
Pastors Who Shaped the Parish
Father Lopez was succeeded in 1933 by Father Edward J. Higgins, who went on to shape the parish for three decades. Father Higgins erected a Grotto to Our Lady and St. Bernadette in 1934, founded the Catholic War Veterans movement that grew into a national organization, and introduced the Miraculous Medal Novena as a parish devotion. He also oversaw construction of the present rectory in 1940 and the building of a new, larger church that was dedicated in 1951. The Sisters of the Holy Union from Fall River, Massachusetts took over the school in 1946.
Father William D. Lyons, installed as pastor in 1964, expanded the school complex, added the gym and convent, and reorganized the sanctuary with the baldachin that still stands above the main altar. He also helped launch Our Lady's Preschool and a Spanish-language chapel at 20-20 21 Avenue to serve the growing Latino community. Father Walter V. Murphy followed in 1980, commissioning the first Eucharistic Ministers and Lectors and starting a Homeless Program for women. Monsignor Charles P. Boccio, installed in 1986, expanded prayer groups in three languages, opened altar service to girls, and welcomed the Knights of Columbus Council #11449 to the parish in 1994.
The current pastor, Monsignor Fernando Ferrarese, arrived in January 2008 and quickly established a Parish Pastoral Council to plan for the future. In 2014 the community marked ninety years in Astoria, and in 2016 seven hundred parishioners walked through the streets of the neighborhood carrying a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a Year of Mercy Pilgrimage. After seventy-one years of service, the Holy Union Sisters returned to Fall River in 2017, and that same year fifty-five parishioners were consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary on the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Today the parish continues to celebrate a centennial that, in Monsignor Ferrarese's words, honors the past with gratitude while looking to the future with faith.
Masses Across Four Languages
The Mass schedule at Immaculate Conception is one of the most linguistically varied in the Diocese of Brooklyn. Saturday brings three Masses in the Upper Church at 7:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m. and a 5:00 p.m. Vigil. Sundays begin with a 7:00 a.m. English Mass, followed by an 8:00 a.m. Mass in Italian, the 9:00 a.m. family Mass with the Children's Choir, a 10:30 a.m. English Mass, a 12:00 p.m. Mass in Spanish, and a 1:30 p.m. contemporary-style Mass with the Ensemble. The Saturday Vigil, the 9:00 a.m. Sunday Mass, the Italian Mass and the Spanish Mass are all livestreamed, so the parish reaches worshippers far beyond Astoria as well as those at home or in the hospital. On weekdays, two Masses are offered Monday through Friday at 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m.
The sacrament of Reconciliation is heard in the Upper Church on Saturdays from 4:00 to 4:45 p.m. Parents bringing children for First Reconciliation, returning Catholics and anyone preparing for Easter know the routine well.
A House of Adoration
If the Sunday Masses are the parish's public face, Eucharistic Adoration is its daily heartbeat. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament begins immediately after the 7:00 a.m. Mass and continues until just before the 9:00 a.m. Mass every weekday and Saturday, a continuous two-hour window of silent prayer in the Upper Church. The Holy Rosary is recited at 8:20 a.m. and Morning Prayer is celebrated at 8:45 a.m., giving the morning hours a steady rhythm of devotion. First Saturdays carry an extra weight: the Rosary is prayed before the exposed Blessed Sacrament at 8:30 a.m., followed by Morning Prayer and the 9:00 a.m. Mass, which includes the Anointing of the Sick.
Around the Eucharist the parish keeps an unusually full calendar of devotions. The Miraculous Medal Novena is prayed weekly, and a Perpetual Novena to the Miraculous Medal is part of the parish's Marian life. The Rosary is recited together by the Rosary Society on the first Sunday of each month, by the Grupo Mariano Hispano on Friday evenings, and at the parish's annual outdoor Rosary Procession. Holy Hour, Stations of the Cross in Lent, the Litany of the Sacred Heart, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and a Consecration to Jesus through Mary round out the year.
The Seven Sacraments
The full sacramental life of a Roman Catholic parish is at home at Immaculate Conception, beginning with Baptism. Children are baptized once a month outside of Lent, with both parents expected to attend an interview with a priest and a one-hour baptismal class in the Lower Church. Godparents must be confirmed Catholics in good standing, sacramentally married if married, and prepared to serve as ongoing spiritual role models. Each newly baptized child is welcomed at the following Sunday's 10:30 a.m. Mass, and every spring the parish gathers the families of the past year's baptisms for a Yearly Celebration of Baptism.
First Holy Communion and Confirmation are prepared through the parish's Religious Education program, with classes for children in Catholic school and public school alike. Adults who have not been baptized, or who were baptized in another Christian tradition and wish to come into full communion with the Catholic Church, enter the parish through the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, called OCIA. The OCIA journey welcomes inquirers, returning Catholics, and those completing their sacraments, with no commitment required to begin asking questions.
Couples preparing for Matrimony meet with one of the priests to begin the process, and young men discerning a call to the Priesthood can connect with the parish's St. Andrew Vocation Committee. The sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is offered on First Saturdays and is available to anyone facing serious illness or surgery. Funeral planning is handled personally: two members of the Ministry of Consolation visit the wake to help the family choose readings, music and liturgical roles, and the parish provides both a Funeral Planning Booklet and a Planning Sheet to make the process easier.
Three Choirs and a Sunday Soundtrack
Music at Immaculate Conception is built around three ensembles, each tied to a specific Sunday Mass. The Adult Choir sings at the 10:30 a.m. Mass and rehearses once a week, drawing on the parish's long tradition of congregational singing. The Children's Choir leads the 9:00 a.m. family Mass each week with a more accessible repertoire and rehearses on Thursday afternoons; children in first grade and above are welcome to join. The Contemporary Ensemble brings folk-style music to the 1:30 p.m. Mass and rehearses on Sundays.
Liturgical ministry at the parish goes well beyond music. Boys and girls in fifth grade and above can train as Altar Servers, a ministry that has included girls at Sunday Masses and holy days since the 1990s. Ministers of Welcome, the parish's corps of ushers, greet worshippers at every liturgy, help maintain a prayerful atmosphere, and take up the collection. Lectors and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion round out the lay liturgical team.
Faith Formation at Every Age
The parish's faith formation programs begin earlier than almost any in the diocese. Our Lady's Preschool, founded during Father Lyons' pastorate, gathers preschool-age children on Sundays from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. for crafts, songs and a Gospel-based foundation, meeting at the same time as the 9:00 a.m. family Mass so parents can attend together. Religious Education classes for grade-school children run throughout the school year for those not enrolled in Catholic school.
For adults, the Adult Catechesis program offers ongoing formation in Catholic teaching on a drop-in basis: come once, or come as often as the bulletin invites, with no registration required. The OCIA process meets those who are unbaptized, baptized in another tradition, or simply curious about becoming Catholic. Consecration to Jesus through Mary follows a thirty-three day preparation and culminates each year on the feast of the Immaculate Conception. The St. Andrew Vocation Committee accompanies young men considering the priesthood.
Immaculate Conception Catholic Academy
Sharing the campus with the parish is Immaculate Conception Catholic Academy, a K-8 elementary school that has been part of the parish since the Sisters of St. Francis first opened its classrooms in 1924. After seven decades under the Sisters of the Holy Union and a transition to lay leadership, the school today is led by Principal Keri-Ann Wade-Donohue and continues the tradition of faith-centered academics that has defined the parish from the start. Children of registered parishioners receive priority admission, and the school welcomes families from across northwestern Queens.
A Network of Parish Societies
More than a dozen lay societies keep the parish running week to week. The Youth Ministry gathers middle-school, high-school and college-age parishioners on the first Friday of each month at 6:00 p.m. in the Gym for prayer and social activities. The Filipino Apostolate celebrates its Tagalog Mass on the second Saturday of each month at 7:00 p.m. in the Upper Church. On the fourth Thursday of the month, the God the Father Children's Apostolate gathers for a Healing Mass and Novena to God the Father.
Two Spanish-language groups keep a steady presence. Grupo de Oracion Carismatico Amor y Fe meets every Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in the Upper Church for prayer and song in a charismatic style, open to anyone who wants to join the rhythm. Grupo Mariano Hispano gathers on Fridays at 6:00 p.m. in the Nazareth Center to recite the Rosary together. An English Prayer Group prays the Rosary, worships, and reflects on Scripture every other Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in the Lower Church.
The Rosary Society meets on the first Sunday of each month at 11:30 a.m. in Lyons Hall, praying the Rosary before attending Sunday Mass together and holding a monthly meeting afterward. The society also gathers twice a year for days of reflection, in October and March. The Knights of Columbus Council #11449, founded at the parish in 1994, is one of the most highly ranked councils in the country and works the four principles of charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism. Happy Seniors brings parishioners aged fifty-five and older together every Wednesday from September through June at 12:15 p.m. in Lyons Hall for fellowship, frequent trips and outings. Catholic War Veterans Post #1, founded here in 1935 by Monsignor Higgins, remains the organization's national home chapter. The Catholic Youth Organization runs sports leagues and recreational programs in coordination with the Diocese of Brooklyn, and the Our Lady of Guadalupe society plans the annual feast-day celebration each December.
Reaching Out from 29th Street
Service to the neighborhood is woven into the parish's identity. The parish Food Pantry distributes food to needy parishioners twice a month, providing a quiet safety net for families in the surrounding blocks. During the mid-1980s, Father Murphy's pastorate saw the start of a Homeless Program for women, an early sign of the parish's commitment to those on the margins. More recently, the St. Joseph Fathers Guild has drawn together fathers seeking to grow in faith and strengthen their families, meeting on the Feast of St. Joseph and gathering as a brotherhood under the spiritual direction of Monsignor Ferrarese. The parish's VIRTUS program keeps every staff member and volunteer who works with children trained in the Diocese of Brooklyn's Protecting God's Children protocols, in compliance with diocesan policy.
Mary Under Whose Mantle
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, often confused with the conception of Christ, is in fact the teaching that the Blessed Virgin Mary was preserved from original sin from the first moment of her own existence. Declared dogma by Pope Pius IX in 1854 with the constitution Ineffabilis Deus, the doctrine grounds the parish's identity and its Marian devotions: the Miraculous Medal Novena, the First Saturday Devotion, the annual outdoor Rosary and Eucharistic Procession, the Consecration to Jesus through Mary, and the parish's yearly celebration on December 8. The Grotto to Our Lady and St. Bernadette, built in 1934, still stands beside the church, and the parish publishes a centennial journal, Immac Footprints 1924-2024, that traces a century of life under Mary's mantle in Astoria.
Joining the Parish Family
Parishioners register through the Rectory Office to access the sacraments, receive weekly collection envelopes, request testimonial letters for sacraments outside the parish, and stay connected through parish email. Newcomers are asked to be registered for at least a year before receiving sponsor certificates or letters of recommendation, giving the parish a chance to know the family. The Rectory Office, located in the parish complex at 21-47 29th Street, is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., and on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sunday Masses are celebrated year-round, and online giving is available through GiveCentral for those who wish to support the parish remotely.
Living the Eucharist in Astoria
For a hundred years, Immaculate Conception Church has stood on the corner of 29th Street and Ditmars Boulevard as both a witness and a gathering place. Six Sunday Masses, daily adoration, three choirs, four languages, a K-8 academy, a Sunday preschool, a food pantry, a Knights of Columbus council, a Filipino apostolate, a charismatic prayer group, a fathers' guild, and a network of parish societies all revolve around the same altar. The parish that began in a doctor's living room in 1924 has become, in Monsignor Ferrarese's words, a place where the Eucharist remains at the center of everything the community does. Whether you are a longtime parishioner, a young family looking for a Catholic school, a Tagalog speaker searching for the Filipino Apostolate Mass, or a visitor walking the streets of Astoria, Immaculate Conception opens its doors and its calendar wide enough to make room for you.