Summer feast days celebrated around the Archdiocese of Newark (Photos)
With the summer months come warm weather, festivals, and outdoor fun. For local churches, all of those things combine when they celebrate their feast days, with Mass, processions through the streets, and plenty of good food.
Scroll below to see how some parishes celebrated the holy feast days (ordered chronologically from May to early August).
Our Lady of Fatima – May 13
On May 13, 1917, Mary appeared to three shepherd children near Fatima, Portugal and imparted three prophetic secrets to them. Since that miracle occurred, the faithful have celebrated this day in honor of the Blessed Mother, looking to her for peace and comfort in times of uncertainty.
Saint Anthony of Padua – June 13
On June 13, Catholics honor the memory of the 13th century Franciscan priest St. Anthony of Padua. Although he is popularly invoked today by those who have trouble finding lost objects, he was known in his own day as the “Hammer of Heretics” due to the powerful witness of his life and preaching.
St. Anthony’s well-established holiness, combined with the many miracles he had worked during his lifetime, moved Pope Gregory IX – who knew the saint personally – to canonize him less than a year after his death at the age of 36, making him one of the most quickly canonized saints in Church history.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel – July 16
On July 16, 1251, Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock, Father General of the Carmelite Order, and presented him with a brown scapular, promising that “it shall be a sign of salvation, a protection in danger, and a pledge of peace.” Since 1726, this day has been recognized by the universal Church as the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Sts. Anne and Joachim – July 26
For centuries, the Church has recognized the parents of Mary on July 26. The couple’s faith and perseverance brought them through the sorrow of childlessness, to the joy of conceiving and raising the immaculate and sinless woman who would give birth to Christ. As the angel said to Anne, “The Lord has heard your prayer, and you shall conceive, and shall bring forth; and your seed shall be spoken of in all the world.”
Our Lady of Angels – August 2
In 1216, St. Francis of Assisi was praying in the Church of Our Lady of Angels, or Portiuncula. While deep in prayer, a bright light illuminated the wall of the church and St. Francis saw our Lord and His Blessed Mother surrounded by a great host of angels.
Our Lord commended Francis because of his zeal for the salvation of souls and promised to grant him whatever he should ask on behalf of sinners. St. Francis asked for this great favor: that all those who came to this church to pray and, truly sorry for their sins, confessed them, should “Obtain in perpetuity a plenary indulgence” so that they would have nothing to account for when God called them. This was the great favor he asked, but Our Lord granted it to him through Mary.
The Feast of Our Lady of Angels is particularly celebrated by Costa Rican communities, as Our Lady is the country’s patroness.
Featured image: The faithful process through the streets of Newark during the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on July 16. (NewarkNJBlog)
