Archbishop Dolan visited the Torch program for preschoolers at St. Dominic’s Home in the Bronx Dec. 21, left, and went to work helping the children to decorate a gingerbread house. St. Dominic’s, a social welfare agency, serves more than 2,300 daily in the Bronx and Rockland and Orange counties.
Chris Sheridan
Candlelight shone on the faces of altar servers, above, as they sang at St. Margaret Mary Church on Staten Island during ceremony for the lighting of a Christmas peace tree Dec. 17. Parishioners and neighbors formed a “living Christmas tree” and sang carols outside the church.
Mary DiBiase Blaich
Archbishop Dolan, left, celebrates Mass on Christmas Eve at Engine 8, Ladder 2 station on East 51st Street in Manhattan; it lost eight firefighters on 9/11. Prayers were offered for Firefighter Robert Wiedmann and his family; he was badly burned fighting fire in Brooklyn Dec. 19 and is at New York-Presbyterian Weill/Cornell Medical Center.
Maria R. Bastone
New toy is a hit with youngster at fourth annual “Christmas Spirit” Toy and Coat Drive, above, held Dec. 22 at Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway by its president, Timothy J. Rooney, right. Enjoying the fun is Msgr. Kevin Sullivan, executive director of New York Catholic Charities. Empire City Casino patrons donated many toys, making this year’s drive the most successful one yet. Items are going to 600 families throughout the region.
