Our Lady of Fatima statue to parade through Newark on Saturday
The Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima currently touring the Archdiocese of Newark will be paraded through the streets of Newark on Saturday, May 13, in commemoration of Our Lady’s first apparition at the Cova da Iria in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917.
The procession will commence from Newark’s Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church at 1:30 p.m. and travel to Newark’s Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart. There, the statue will be presented for veneration, followed by a Mass dedicated to Our Lady at 5 p.m. and a special reflection at 7 p.m. The reflection will be delivered by Ricardo Casimiro, co-leader of the statue’s pilgrimage and campus minister at Montclair State University. Casimiro has made 40 visits to Portugal’s Shrine of Fatima as part of his studies on Our Lady.
Here is the procession route from Newark’s Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church at 259 Oliver St. to Newark’s Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart at 89 Ridge St.:
- Travel to Adams Street
- Make a right onto Adams Street to Walnut Street
- Make a left onto Walnut and travel to Mulberry Street, (crossing McCarter Highway
,(major intersection) - Make a right onto Mulberry Street to Center Street,
(passing the Prudential Center and crossing Market Street and Raymond Blvd,9two major intersections) - Make a left onto Center Street to Broad Street (passing the New Jersey Performing Arts Center)
- Cross Broad Street (major intersection) and merge onto Central Avenue, traveling to MLK Blvd. (a slight uphill climb near St. Michael’s Medical Center)
- Make a right onto MLK Blvd, cross Orange Street
,underneath Route 280 to 7th Avenue - Make a left onto 7th Avenue to Clifton Avenue (another uphill climb begins near St. Lucy’s Church)
- Make a right onto Clifton Avenue to Victoria Avenue
- Make a left onto Victoria Avenue towards the main entrance of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart
The statue of Our Lady will be carried by a vintage fire engine that was used for firefighters’ funerals who died due to 9/11. Officers from the Newark Police Department will accompany the procession.
The Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima that is currently touring the Archdiocese – which is one of several statues from the Shrine of Fatima that have traveled the world on a pilgrimage of peace since 1947 – arrived at St. Pius X Parish in Old Tappan on April 28. Since then, it has visited eight churches thus far and is scheduled to visit an additional 12 churches until June 7, covering Union, Bergen, Hudson, and Essex counties.
Our Lady of Fatima is a Marian apparition who appeared to three Portuguese shepherd children on six occasions during World War I between May and October of 1917. In September 1917, Our Lady said to the three little shepherds, “Continue to pray the Rosary in order to obtain the end of the war. In October Our Lord will also come, Our Lady of Sorrows and of Carmel, and St. Joseph with the Child Jesus to bless the world. God is pleased with your sacrifices …”
Ricardo Casimiro, co-leader of the statue’s pilgrimage and campus minister at Montclair State University, said, “Certain that God is indeed pleased, we will leave this Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel with jubilation and gratitude for Our Lady’s promise to each of her children… Come, then, and make this pilgrimage with us to meet Our Mother who repeats to us, as she did on June 13, 1917, ‘I will never leave you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God.’”
If you intend to participate in the procession, it is recommended that you register here.
For more information, follow the World Youth Day Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/WYDNEWARK.
