A look at the 2016 Feast of Our Lady of the Audience, Kansas City, Missouri

Viva Maria!

Photos courtesy of Robert Kearney

Thank you Robert for sharing your wonderful pictures of the Feast of Our Lady of the Audience (May 22nd). Each year devotees gather at Holy Rosary Church in Kansas City, Missouri to celebrate the Feast of the Madonna dell'Udienza, patroness of Sambuca, Sicily. Festivities included live music, refreshments and the highly anticipated rose petal shower, where celebrants ritually wipe the face and arms of the Blessed Mother and Child with cotton balls and rose petals.

Holy Rosary Church was packed for the celebration

(Left) Donations are pinned onto the Altar Society Standard
(Right) Our Lady of the Audience departing Holy Rosary Church

After Mass, the statue is processed around the neighborhood

Upon her return, the Madonna is placed beneath a canopy
and showered with rose petals 

A close-up of the canopy

Devotees swab the statue with cotton balls
and rose petals to collect the Blessed Mother's blessings

Afterward, celebrants enjoyed some refreshments in the church hall