Father Vincent Liu is a retired priest in residence at St. Patrick's.  He first came to our parish in 1988 and served as associate pastor until his retirement in 1998.

Unlike most of us, who only experience religious persecution in the form of mild ridicule, Father Liu knows what it is like to pay a heavy price for practicing your faith.

Father Liu was born on July 19th, 1926 in the Province of Hopei in Northern China.  he was the third of five children, and the only son.  Father Liu entered the seminary at the age of 14.  When he began his studies, Northern China was under Japanese control.  While the Japanese made life difficult for the seminarians, it was not unbearable, according to Father Liu.  In the late 1940s, however, things went from bad to worse as the Communists began to overtake China.  In the years to come, Father Liu and his fellow seminarians would be forced to make several moves in order to stay one step ahead of the Communists - literally fleeing for their lives.

The first move was from his home province to Beijing.  It was accomplished by moving at night with falsified documents.  After a year and a half of studies there, the Communists captured Beijing City.  Father Liu and approximately 30 seminarians escaped by borrowing a plane from a Protestant Church and taking off from what is today Tian-an-men Square in the heart of Beijing.  The plane took them to Shanghai, where they arrived on New Year's Day, 1949.  After a very brief stay in Shanghai, they traveled by boat to Hong Kong.  It was a treacherous trip during which they very nearly lost their lives.  In April of 1949, another boat took the seminarians to Manila in the Philippines.  Father Liu was ordained in the Philippines in 1954.

After his ordination, Father Liu attended St. Thomas University in Manila where he received a B.A. degree in Administration and an M.A. degree in English Literature.

He was then put in charge of a new school in Manila - Sacred Heart School - for six years.  He then traveled to the United States for the first time.  he attended Columbia University's teacher college and finished his master's degree there.  his first work as a parish priest in this country was at St. John the Evangelist in Riverhead.  Father Liu went there as a summer substitute priest and was asked to stay.   He did, for four years.

In 1976, Father Liu traveled back to Manila to start another school - St Peter the Apostle.  He ran the school for six and a half years and then returned to the United States to work at Notre Dame Church in New Hyde Park for five years.  He then served at St. Elizabeth's in Huntington for two years, before coming to St. Patrick's.

While Father Liu did escape China with his life, his call to the priesthood meant leaving his family behind.  Back home, his father was harassed by the Communists, simply because his son was a priest.  It was 30 years after he left that Father Liu was finally able to reenter China.  By that time, only his oldest and youngest sisters remained alive, along with nieces, nephews and a brother-in-law.

Regarding St. Patrick Church, Father Liu says that two things that distinguish it from other parishes are its friendliness and its many programs for young people.  "People in this parish are friendly. It's different.  It makes the parish personable," Father Liu said.

"Think of the activities we have for young people - the movie night, boy scouts, girl scouts, rosary makers, catechism classes.  So many adults focus their attention on young people - their recreation, entertainment, and religious interests," he said. "This is the hope of our parish. This is the strength of our parish.

While away from his home at St. Patricks, visiting Reykjavik, Iceland Father Liu passed away on August, 15th 2007.  His Mass of Transferral at St. Patrick's of Smithtown was celebrated by Msgr. Robert Brennan, vicar general.  Father Frederick Hill delivered the homily.  On August 20th, Fr. Liu's funeral Mass was celebrated by Bishop Paul Walsh, former pastor of St. Patrick's, and Msgr. Ellsworth Walden, the current pastor of St. Patrick's, delivered the homily.  Afterwards, Fr. Liu was laid to his eternal rest at St. Patrick's Cemetery. Father Liu touched not only many lives in the local parishes and diocese in which he served, but his influence, care and joy spanned the globe. 

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