Faith is focus of July 16 ‘Feast Day’ of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
Page 4 • Wednesday, July 24, 2019 • The Hammonton Gazette
MT. CARMEL, from Page 1
Catholics.
for the past 144 years, the Ham-
monton community, led by the ef-
forts of the Our Lady of Mt.
Carmel Society, has preserved the
tradition of honoring and giving
thanks to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
during feast Week. What began in
1875 as a group of italian immi-
grant farmers praying to the
Blessed Virgin Mary—thanking
her for granting their safe entry
into america and asking her for a
fruitful growing season—has
evolved into Hammonton’s most
sacred tradition, and one that bears
great personal significance to
many past and present generations
of Hammontonians.
this year’s feast Day obser-
vance began inside St. Joseph
Church at 9 a.m. with a Mass of-
fered for the deceased members of
the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Soci-
ety that helped keep the faithful
tradition alive over the past 144
years. a large congregation, in-
cluding the society’s current mem-
bers, was in attendance during the
Mass, which was led by the Most
rev. Dennis J. Sullivan, Bishop of
the Diocese of Camden.
Sullivan thanked the Our Lady
of Mt. Carmel Society for their de-
vout efforts in perpetuating the re-
ligious aspect of a roman Catholic
tradition that has become increas-
ingly known for its food stands,
beer gardens, carnival games, live
music and amusement rides
throughout Hammonton’s history.
“Your society, by sponsoring
this annual festival keeps Mary—
Mama Maria—before the thou-
sands who come to Hammonton to
enjoy the festival. and that is a
benefit for our church; it benefits
those who come here in just the
fact that they are able to say ‘Our
Lady of Mt. Carmel.’ it gives them
some connection to Mary and
some connection to our church.
and that, gentlemen, is a very, very
good thing, and very, very needed
in the society in which we live in,”
Sullivan said.
Sullivan said the devotion to the
Blessed Virgin Mary has been a
longstanding source of faith
among Catholics since the 12th
century, when a brotherhood of
Christian hermits (the Carmelites,
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named after a rich, fertile area of
land in israel known as Mt.
Carmel) sailed across the Mediter-
ranean Sea to spread that devotion
across europe.
“Mothers heal their children.
Mothers stay beside their children
in times of trial, and Our Lady of
Mt. Carmel teaches us that the
healing needed for eternal life
comes through her son, Jesus
Christ,” Sullivan said.
feast Day provides an opportu-
nity for local Catholics to express
their devotion to the Blessed Virgin
Mary. However, the feast of Our
Lady of Mt. Carmel has attracted
residents from all over the region
as its popularity and reputation
have grown.
Maryann
McKenzie,
of
Broomall, Penn., has been fre-
quenting the feast of Our Lady of
Mt. Carmel since she was a child.
While the entertainment and attrac-
tions leading up to July 16 were
often the primary factor that
brought McKenzie and her family
to Hammonton, she discovered her
devotion to Our Lady of Mt.
Carmel about 40 years ago when
she came to the feast on July 16,
right before the start of her
chemotherapy treatment for can-
cer.
“i asked, ‘if i didn’t have any ef-
fect from the chemo, i would al-
ways come and bring my family.’
and i never had any effect. i never
was tired. i never threw up, never
lost a hair on my head and here i
am 39 years later,” McKenzie said.
Now cancer-free, McKenzie has
kept her promise and travels to
Hammonton every July with her
children and grandchildren to par-
take in the feast Week festivities
and participate in the religious ob-
servance of Our Lady of Mt.
Carmel.
“i think it’s wonderful that she
passed along the tradition to us.
She made a comment that i’ll
never forget. She said she’ll come
on her knees. if she had to walk on
her knees, she would come to this
Mass. So, how could we not
come?” McKenzie’s son, John
said.
after the morning Mass had
ended, volunteers began preparing
for the day’s most signature ritual,
the Procession of images. at ap-
proximately 4 p.m., a large crowd
gathered in front of the St. Joseph
Church steps, awaiting several
statues to be brought outside,
hoisted and paraded through the
streets of downtown Hammonton,
beginning on third Street,
fairview avenue, egg Harbor
road, Bellevue avenue before re-
turning to the church on third
Street.
residents and onlookers flanked
the streets to watch the procession
pass by, while many devotees ran
into the streets to donate money to
the saint statues of their choosing.
the storied Hammonton tradition
is a significant yearly highlight for
many residents, including Nick
fognano, who walked in this
year’s Procession with the St. John
the Baptist Society.
“it’s the highlight of the year.
this is like better than Christmas;
this is the best day of the year for
me … the other six days [of feast
Week] are about everything else,
which is nice, but today, i think the
best part is walking with the soci-
ety in the procession; i think that’s
really what it’s all about,” fognano
said.
With 144 years of rich history
and tradition surrounding the feast
of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, the
event often invokes residents’
memories of the elder relatives
who passionately introduced them
to feast Week.
“the religious aspect and what
it meant to my grandparents and
everything—you can tie it all the
way back to when they came over
... they all participated in this. it
was big in their lives, and growing
up, seeing how much it meant to
them, it just transferred over,” life-
long resident frank Carrelli said.
the feast of Our Lady of Mt.
Carmel is also rooted in the family
tradition of Louis J. Pantalone,
president of the Our Lady of Mt.
Carmel Society. every feast Week
offers the community an opportu-
nity to have fun, catch up with
longtime friends and savor the
many popular menu items sold at
the food stands, but according to
Pantalone, the feast of Our Lady
of Mt. Carmel is best suited as a
time to celebrate family, faith and
reflect on the heritage that paved
the way for 144 years of success-
fully celebrating what has become
the longest-running italian festival
in the United States.
“it’s something that my grandfa-
ther and my father held closely to
their heart. it was an admiration for
her [Our Lady of Mt. Carmel],
knowing that she is the messenger
to our Lord, and it helps us con-
tinue our beliefs and our faith the
way we were brought up. it’s truly
a moment of really thinking, re-
flecting on how blessed we are,”
Pantalone said.