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Right
Reverend Monsignor Anthony F. Zasowski
Anthony Francis Zasowski, the son of Bronislaus and Josephine Orzechowski, was born in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn on October 21, 1901. He received his elementary education at St. Stanislaus Kostka Parochial School in Greenpoint. In 1914, upon completion of his primary grades, he entered Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception, the Preparatory Seminary of the Diocese of Brooklyn. Anthony F. Zasowski was the first Polish * -American to complete his preparatory studies for the Priesthood at Cathedral College. His studies in Philosophy and Theology leading to the Priesthood were pursued at St. John's Seminary in Brooklyn under the direction of the Vincentian Fathers. Anthony F. Zasowski was ordained a Priest in St. John the Baptist Church on Willoughby Avenue in Brooklyn on June 6, 1925, by the late Archbishop Thomas E. Molloy. On the following day he offered his First Solemn High Mass in his parish Church, SS Cyril and Methodius, also in Greenpoint. As a newly ordained Priest, Father Zasowski's first assignment was as an assistant to the Reverend John Regulski at St. John the Baptist ( Church, Wading River, L. I., New York. From October, 1925, until December, 1926, Father Zasowski faithfully served the parishioners as an assistant at St. Raphael's Church in Long Island City (Blissville) . In December, 1926, the young Priest was transferred to the Church of ,tie Holy Cross in Maspeth where he remained until he was named Pastor of Our Lady of Poland in Southampton, L. 1. From June, 1948, until January, 1953, Father Zasowski performed his pastoral duties at Our Lady of Poland. In January, 1953, he was assigned Pastor of the Parish of St. Isidore in Riverhead by the late Archbishop Molloy. On October 2, 1953, Father Zasowski was awarded the Gold Cross of Merit by the Polish Government in Exile in recognition of his many contributions to the cause of Poland and the Polish Nation. During his pastorate at St. Isidore's, Father Zasowski accomplished very much in renovating and beautifying the parish properties. Having first of all beautified the Church, the House of God, he made another very much needed improvement, the building of a new rectory. With the division of the Diocese of Brooklyn in April, 1957, Father Zasowski became a subject of the Most Reverend Walter P. Kellenberg, the first shepherd of the newly created Diocese of Rockville Centre. In July, 1957, Bishop Kellenberg appointed Father Zasowski to his Board of Diocesan Consultors. In recognition of the service rendered to the Diocese in this capacity, the Most Reverend Bishop announced to Father Zasowski, on May 4, 1959, that he had been appointed a Domestic Prelate by His Holiness, Pope John XXIII, with the title: Right Reverend Monsignor. On June 7, 1959, in a colorful ceremony at St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre, Monsignor Zasowski, together with ten others, was invested with the robes of a Domestic Prelate. Six others, at this same ceremony, were invested as Papal Chamberlains. Not too long after initiating the great project of building the much needed Parochial School and the Convent to house its teachers, Monsignor Zasowski on the evening of April 27, 1962, was called by God, His Creator, to his eternal rest. The sudden and unexpected death of Monsignor came as a blow to all to whom he had endeared himself. All the parishioners experienced a great loss because the hands of this Priest, who did so much for St. Isidore's, are now folded as he sleeps "the sleep of peace" mentioned in the fourth remembrance in the Canon of the Mass. Monsignor was buried on May 1, in Calvary Cemetery in Long Island City, to be with his parents and brother. The Pontifical Requiem Mass was offered by the Bishop of our Diocese, the Most Reverend Walter P. Kellenberg. MAY HE REST IN PEACE
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