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| Madonna del Soccorso, ora pro nobis |
Sunday morning, over one hundred pilgrims made the trek to the National Centre for Padre Pio in Barto, Pennsylvania to celebrate the annual Feast of the Madonna del Soccorso di Castelfranci.
Arriving early, we got to explore the center’s informative museum and cultural center before Mass.
After the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the statue of the Madonna del Soccorso was carried out of the chapel and solemnly processed around the center’s bucolic grounds.
Returning to the chapel, revelers adjourned to the picnic grounds for a celebratory meal, some fellowship and pick-up games of bocce and calcio.
Before leaving, we bought a few religious articles at the gift shop and venerated the relics of San Francesco d’Assisi and San Pio.
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| The Madonna della Grazie chapel |
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| The view from the chapel |
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| Processional standard inside the Madonna della Grazie chapel |
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| Santa Massimiana, Virgin, Martyr and Patroness of San Giovanni Rotondo |
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| A copy of Luca Giordano's The Patron Saints of Naples Adoring Christ on the Cross hangs above the actual confessional San Pio used to hear the confessions of women in San Giovanni Rotondo |
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Side altar dedicated to St. Felix Cantilice
and painting of the Immaculate Conception |
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| Statues of St. Francis of Assisi |
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| Relics of St. Francis of Assisi |
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Replica of Santa Maria Assunta in Cielo from Monte di Procida,
Naples and San Michele Arcangelo, protettore di Sturno, Avellino |
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| Monuments of San Michele Arcangelo and Padre Raffaele di Sant'Elia a Pianisi |
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After Mass, the statue of the Madonna del Soccorso
was removed from her glass case for the procession |
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| (Above & below) The procession makes its way around the grounds |
