Prayer and Procession

One of my Facebook friends posted the poster for The Feast on the newsfeed today, saying another reason why I love where I live. She’s a twenty something, has been in J.C. maybe five years, probably less. She didn’t grow up here and is not as far as I know, Italian.

But like everyone else, old and young, newly arrived or born and bred, she loves The Feast.

I generally refrain from repeating myself in this blog, which is why the same thing is not written about year in and year out even though many events happen year in and year out. But La Fiesta Itialana, the annual Jersey City street fair, I cannot seem to resist annual contemplation and observations there of. Every year I look forward to it, like a holiday but there’s no ounce of trepidation with this one. You know how say Christmas there’s joy but the anticipation is tempered with dread – the shopping, the parties, the scheduling, you know the drill. Plus it comes in winter. That's never all good.

Summer is solidly here but we know yet have no reason to admit that the inevitable fade into fall will happen again, even though we notice that unlike just a few weeks ago it’s dark around eight o’clock. It’s that time of year, that’s time of summer, when Sixth Street is cordoned off for a long weekend of food and music and seeing friends and neighbors and celebrating everything Italian. The mobile band shell, the trailers of the games, the various food vendors, the bar table, all set up, waiting like us for the annual party.

This year’s motto for The Feast is bigger and better and I have no doubt this year will be different, something new, because there always is. But aside from the lemoncello and rice balls, in fact preceding it, is the Novena mass for Our Lady of the Assumption, which began nine days ago.

Today – August 15^th – is the Feast Day for Our Lady of the Assumption (for more info see #9) and this year turns out the first official day of The Feast, that is the street fair, which opens later in the day.

A Holy Day of obligation for Catholics, the mass at the Holy Rosary Church was said by Bishop Thomas A. Donato, who was born and raised in downtown Jersey City and grew up at Holy Rosary. Several other priests con-celebrated the mass, all of whom had some affiliation with the Holy Rosary parish and the surrounding neck of the Downtown Jersey City woods. The church was packed, with both current and past parishioners, and the dozens who work behind the scenes and at the booths who make The Feast happen every year. Now, many of them are second, third, even fourth generation Holy Rosary folks – some not even current Jersey City residents, either moved to their suburbs and visited their parents or grew up in the suburbs and were taken to visit their grandparents – yet they retain a connection to this place, this church, this street, this feast. They have no memory of an August without a long mass followed by a loud and tasty street fair.

As somebody pointed out to me, the Novena came before the street fair. Not just in sequence, but apparently there was a before time when there was a Novena without the party, or at least no organized bacchanal where streets are blocked off and public drinking (although not drunkenness) and pizza eating is encouraged.

Perhaps I started this to blog to write this blog about my buddy Carmine Colussardo’s family. Their ancestors not only began The Feast in 1912 but about ten years ago, but the current family revived The Feast with some needed reimagining and unyielding enthusiasm. This year though, another first was achieved. This was the debut of the new Our Lady of the Assumption statue.

Bishop Donato placed a detailed gold crown on her head. “I grew up around here but I had to become Bishop before I was allowed to crown the Blessed Mother at The Feast,” he joked.

The previous statue – oh, it’s still in use – that is in the church and carried through the streets during the procession – on the Feast of the Assumption is in actually, the similar but not identical Mother Mary Icon, Our Lady of Grace. The secret can now be told, the statue that has been used all these decades until 2012 was NOT the official Our Lady of Assumption icon.

This situation has now been rectified, through the efforts of the Maria S.S. (“santissima”)Dell'Assunta Society, which means Mary Most Holy of the Assumption Society, which was a group from the small Camobasso village of Morrone Del Sannio, with a sincere devotion to this icon who began the Feast way back before The Great War. Seems after immigrating to Jersey City, they alleviated homesickness in their new adopted land by holding the novena and festival they enjoyed in Morrone. Through funds raised by members of the society at The Feast an actual Assumption statue (what happened to the original statue is a controversial mystery everyone seems tight lipped about) was purchased. Hand made in Rome, the 2012 La Fiesta Italiana is her debut. Bishop Donato crowned this statue.

After the mass – which concluded with a very moving version of Ave Maria – both statues and the original banner of the society, now encased in a glass frame – were led out to the street for the procession. Hands were placed over hearts for the Star Spangled Banner, played by the Red Mike Festival Band, a local mainstay of musical history. Then the Italian Flag came out and the band performed the Italian National Anthem.

But on the steps of the church, one last duty for the Bishop. With the aspergillum, he blessed blue and white (which I think are the Team Assumption colors) balloons, filled with helium and on which were taped names of the deceased and/or petitions. The balloons were let go in the air as the Red Mike Festival Band horns played a festive Immaculate Mary. The balloons go up to heaven and the procession can begin.

The procession was not a solemn affair, it was just a slow walk were everybody gabbed and the Red Mike horns played some hymns as well as Dean Martin. People were on the stoops, waving at the parade like they do every summer.

Around a few blocks, then filed into the Seventh Street entrance to the Holy Rosary basement for some coffee, cake and cookies. The Feast has begun so The Feast can begin, again. Some headed home, others to their booths to prepare for day 1 and hope the forecast of rain would not be accurate. Bonne Fiesta!