9am at the Cathedral of the Incarnation
This Memorial Day, the Very Reverend Dr. Michael Sniffen, Dean of the Cathedral and a Lieutenant in the United States Navy Chaplain Corps, will lead the annual Memorial Day Prayer Service at 9:00 a.m. in the Cathedral. The service will include prayers for the nation, solemn remembrance, and patriotic hymns offered in the heart of our community before the parade begins its procession through town.
Even as he prays with the people of Garden City, Dean Sniffen’s ministry stretches far beyond its tree-lined streets. He has recently been appointed Command Chaplain of the 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division—a unit known with reverence and pride as the Empire Battalion.
The 2nd Battalion, 25th Marines was formed during World War II and fought valiantly in the Pacific campaigns at Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo Jima. Since 1962, the battalion had been headquartered in Garden City. In 2024, its command was relocated to the Curtin Garvey Complex at Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn. The complex is named for two Marines serving as First Responders who lost their lives on 9/11 - Sgt. Maj. Michael S. Curtin and Gunnery Sgt. Matthew D. Garvey. Chaplain Sniffen gave the prayer of invocation re-dedicating the battalion’s new headquarters and invoking God’s blessing upon the Marines, Sailors, and civilians who serve from this new post.
In his role as Command Chaplain, Dean Sniffen serves as the senior religious leader for over 1000 Marines and Sailors. His charge is to provide confidential spiritual care, coordinate interfaith worship, and offer moral and ethical guidance both in garrison and in the field. Drawing upon a deep well of theological training and pastoral experience, he brings a unique emphasis on spiritual resilience—equipping servicemembers with the inner resources of strength, stillness, and sacred purpose.
“Our Marines and Sailors need more than physical toughness,” Sniffen said. “They need tools to anchor their souls. The Christian contemplative tradition offers ancient practices that center the heart, clarify the mind, and awaken courage—not just to endure, but to live meaningfully in every moment.”
Rooted in the rhythms of Benedictine prayer, Carmelite stillness, and Franciscan service; Sniffen’s ministry brings centuries of wisdom into the crucible of military life. Whether offering Eucharist before an exercise or deployment, walking beside troops in the field, or listening with care and presence, he fulfills the chaplain’s timeless mission: to bring God to people and people to God.
In addition to this new appointment, Dean Sniffen continues to serve as Dean of the Cathedral and the Mercer School of Theology. His dual service reflects a vision of ministry that bridges the sacred and the civic, the liturgical and the lived.
On this Memorial Day, we remember the fallen with reverence and honor the living with gratitude. All members of the Garden City community are welcome to join in prayer at the Cathedral of the Incarnation at 9am on Memorial Day.