Local parishioners receive medal for their devotion

Parishioners of two local churches were honored last month for their devotion to their parishes.

The Most. Rev. William Murphy, bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, bestowed the fourth annual St. Agnes Medal of Service upon Salvatore and Melissa LaMagna, parishioners of St. Thomas the Apostle church in West Hempstead. St. Thomas’s pastor, Msgr. Francis Maniscalco, nominated the pair to receive the medal for “generously and unselfishly giving of themselves to the parish,” according to the Diocese of Rockville Centre.

It is for that reason that the Rev. Frank Parisi, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Malverne, nominated parishioner Ann Seccia to receive the medal.

“Honorees are lay people whose love of the Church has been shown through their devotion to the Holy Father, to our diocese and to their parish,” Murphy said of bestowing the medal. “They are the unsung heroes in our midst who built up our parish communities by extraordinary service in parish ministry, parish administration or some significant volunteer role.”