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| San Rocco di Montpellier, ora pro nobis |
Dear mendicant pilgrim, you once took care of sufferers from the plague and were always ready to help others by kind service and fervent prayers. You yourself had no home and you died in a dungeon. No wonder countless invalids have confidently invoked your help. Please grant a cure to (name of the sufferer), and help us all become spiritually healthy. Amen.Monday evening members of the Fratelli della Santa Fede (Brothers of the Holy Faith) returned to the Shrine Church of the Holy Innocents (128 West 37th St.) in Manhattan for the 6:00 pm Tridentine High Mass for the Feasts of San Gioacchino, Father of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and San Rocco di Montpellier, patron saint of plague victims and one of our groups co-patrons. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was celebrated by our Pastor Fr. James Miara.
Arriving early for Holy Confession, we offered flowers, lit candles, and prayed for the intentions of our sick family, friends and Cardinal Raymond Burke, who was recently hospitalized with COVID-19. We prayed as well for the repose of the souls of our ancestors and the poor and forgotten Souls in Purgatory.
Believing no prayer request too big for our glorious patron, we also asked San Rocco to intercede and help deliver Holy Mother Church and our country from the virulent plagues of secularism, ecumenism and leftism in all its sundry and subversive forms (Republicanism, Jacobinism, Marxism, etc.).
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| The Eucharist enthroned on the altar |
Sitting in silence for almost an hour, we contemplated and meditated upon the real presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ exposed on the altar in a monstrance.
After Adoration and Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament, the congregation prayed the Holy Rosary, Monday’s Perpetual Novena to the Miraculous Medal, and the Angelus at 6pm. Finally, before Mass, Father Miara blessed us with the first-class relic of San Rocco di Montpellier.
Thanks to the sorry state of the city and the deleterious effects progressive misgovernment is having on the city’s businesses and cultural life, we travelled back to more familiar grounds in Brooklyn for our celebratory dinner.
With many of our regular spots closed on Mondays, we finally tried Positano’s (10018 4th Ave.) in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Keeping it simple, we had a few cocktails, a couple of seasonal antipasti specials and a delicious plate of cavatelli with crumbled sausage, cauliflower and shaved ricotta salata. Espresso with sambuca completed our meal and our devotional celebration. Evviva San Rocco!
~ Giovanni di Napoli, August 17th, Feast of St. Hyacinth of Poland
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| Stuffed zucchini blossoms |
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| Stuffed figs wrapped with prosciutto |
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| Cavatelli with crumbled sausage, cauliflower and shaved ricotta salata |
