144th Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel runs July 10 to 16
Page 4 • Wednesday, July 3, 2019 • The Hammonton Gazette
FEAST, from Page 1
with the solemn “Feast Day” on
Tuesday, July 16, which will fea-
ture the annual Procession of Im-
ages, beginning from Third and
French Streets at 4 p.m.
Commonly regarded as the
longest running Italian festival in
the country, the Feast of Our Lady
of Mt. Carmel has become a fabric
of Hammonton’s Italian-American
and Roman Catholic heritage since
its inception in 1875. The tradition
was started by Antonio Capelli and
a group of fellow Italian immi-
grants who would form a proces-
sion outside of his home after
praying to a painting of the
Blessed Virgin Mary in hopes of a
fruitful summer harvest. Although
the exact symbolism behind the
Feast has changed over the past
143 years, it remains an important
reminder to local Christians that
they can express gratitude to their
Divinity for any matter, whether it
be a bountiful summer harvest or a
rain-free Feast Week.
“It’s an expression of the Chris-
tians’ faith that God cares even
about the simple things of our
lives, and that we want to turn to
him with the simple things of our
lives like rain for a good harvest in
a farming community, which we
still have; that’s very important to
us. I think we’re used to turning to
God and to the intercession the
Saints for disasters or pretty bad
things that are about to happen, but
the important thing is if we can
turn to God even for the simple
things of daily life. So, it’s an ex-
pression of deep gratitude,” St.
Mary of Mt. Carmel Parish Ad-
ministrator the Rev. David Rivera
said.
Preserving the legacy of a tradi-
tion that has been celebrated in
Hammonton for nearly all of the
town’s 153-year history is the
product of the passion and dedica-
tion of several community volun-
teer organizations, namely the Our
Lady of Mt. Carmel Society, an in-
dependent nonprofit organization
who raises money for Hammon-
ton’s St. Mary of Mt. Carmel
Parish and the community through
facilitating Feast Week every July.
For Our Lady of Mt. Carmel So-
ciety President Louis J. Pantalone,
Feast Week is an integral part of
his—and many others’—family
tradition.
“There’s three generations, and
we’re hoping to bring on the fourth
as my brother’s children have con-
sidered the option to join the mem-
bership. But there’s other families
in there with some legacy too, and
that’s the great part about the soci-
ety,” Pantalone said.
The Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
Society is well underway of its an-
nual Feast Week preparations,
which Pantalone said is nearly a
year-round operation. As a gesture
of gratitude for the fervent support
received by the community
throughout the Feast’s history, The
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Society
recently constructed a permanent,
1,476-square-foot pavilion at the
intersection of Tilton and Pratt
Streets (the section of Tilton Street
is called Mt. Carmel Lane), where
a portable tent previously covered
the society’s beer garden and
music stage during the festival.
Pantalone said the new addition,
whose roof provides 12 feet of
clearance and better air circulation,
will provide this year’s attending
patrons with an even more enjoy-
able Feast Week experience.
“We wanted to make it comfort-
able for the people that support the
festival, and that’s one way we
thought it would be meaningful: to
have a better environment to be out
there to enjoy their food—enjoy
the entertainment—in a comfort-
able setting ... So, this will be a
See MT. CARMEL, Page 12
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