“Draw us after you, ever-Virgin Mary, and we will follow in your footsteps.”
Sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in Saint Joseph Church this afternoon, hundreds of faithful heard this message as Bishop Joseph A. Williams celebrated Mass on the 150th anniversary of the Feast of #OurLadyOfMountCarmel in #Hammonton.
Clergy, religious and seminarians joined faithful from the Diocese of Camden and beyond, The Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Society, Hammonton, NJ , Knights of Columbus and more for the feast day celebration and canonical coronation – decreed by Pope Francis – of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel statue. A crown was placed on the head of the child Jesus, since the head of Our Lady was already crowned.
“The canonical crowning is the pope sending his blessing … to acknowledge the historic value of the statue but also the procession,” said Father David Rivera, pastor of St Mary of Mount Carmel Parish. “This is the pope himself, through our Bishop, blessing the statue.”
The crowning acknowledged the Blessed Mother’s significance to local faithful. “I love Our Lady so much; I’m here to honor her and the saints, who’ve helped me on my life’s journey,” said AnnaMarie Mahieu, who has been attending the celebration for 40-plus years.
After Mass, a procession through the streets of Hammonton saw multitudes carrying images of Mary and saints such as Martin de Porres and Lucy Filippini.
The Mass comes in the middle of a weeklong celebration for Our Lady of Mount Carmel; the festival runs until July 19 and includes games, rides, food and live music.
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