Celebrating the 12th Annual Feast of the Madonna Addolorata in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn (Part 1)

The Coronation and Procession

Evviva Maria!
Photos by New York Scugnizzo

A look at Sunday’s 12th Annual Feast of the Madonna Addolorata at St. Athanasius Church in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. (See part 2, The Procession Continued and Mass)

Members of the Associazione Culturale Pugliese Figli Maria SS. Addolorata
emerge from the church & ceremoniously place the crown on the statue's head 

Members take a group photo 

This year's Grand Marshals, bearers of the Seven Sorrows, and little "Madonnas"

(Above & below) In celebration, the ladies release balloons 

A sea of yellow and gold

(L) This year's Grand Marshals Salvatore and Chiara Lombardi
with Cristina Marie Nardulli. (R) The La Rocca family

Cristina Marie and Daniel

After the National Anthem, the procession is ready to begin

(Above & below) Departing the church grounds  

Participants make their way down Bay Parkway 

Dapper devotees carry the statue of the Blessed Mother 

(Above & below) The procession saunters through the neighborhood

The ladies pray and sing hymns along the way

Last year's Grand Marshals Colombia & Vittorio Alborea join this year's honorees

(Above & below) Family and friends enjoying the festivities 

(Above & below) A good time was had by all

There was a lot of love at the procession

Striking a pose

(L) The girls looked great in their outfits. (R) The Timoneri Family

Feast of the Impression of the Stigmata of San Francesco d’Assisi

San Francesco d'Assisi, ora pro nobis

September 17th is the Feast of the Impression of the Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi. By the divine grace of God, the likeness of Christ’s sacred wounds by the Crucifixion were impressed upon the saint’s hands, feet and side during the apparition of a crucified seraph with six shining wings on Mount La Verna in 1224. In celebration, we're posting a Prayer for the Feast of the Impression of the Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi. The accompanying photo of San Francesco d’Assisi bearing the stigmata was taken at St. Agnes Church (143 East 43rd St.) in Midtown Manhattan. Evviva San Francesco d'Assisi!

Prayer for the Feast of the Impression of the Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi

Standard-bearer of Christ and of his Church, we would fain, with the Apostle and with thee, glory in nothing save the Cross of Our Lord Jesus. We would fain bear in our souls the sacred Stigmata, which adorned thy holy body. To him whose whole ambition is to return love for love, every suffering is a gain, persecution has no terrors; for the effect of persecutions and sufferings is to assimilate him, together with his mother the Church, to Christ persecuted, scourged and crucified. It is with our whole hearts that we pray, with the Church: “O Lord Jesus Christ, Who, when the world was growing cold, didst renew the sacred marks of thy Passion in the flesh of the most blessed Francis, to inflame our hearts with the fire of thy love; mercifully grant, that by his merits and prayers we may always carry the cross, and bring forth worthy fruits of penance. Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Madonna Addolorata

Mater Dolorosa, ora pro nobis

September 15th is the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Madonna Addolorata, Our Lady of Sorrows. Often depicted as seven swords piercing Mary's heart, the Seven Sorrows are The Prophecy of Simeon; The Flight into Egypt; The Loss of Jesus in the Temple; The Meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross; The Crucifixion; The Taking Down of the Body of Jesus from the Cross; and Jesus laid in the Tomb. 

In remembrance, we're posting "For the Sorrowful Lady" (Pi l'Addulurata), a prayer from Prayers and Devotional Songs of Sicily, edited and translated by Peppino Ruggeri.(*) The accompanying photo of Madonna Addolorata was taken during my 2010 pilgrimage to the Chiesa dell'Addolorata in Sorrento. 

For the Sorrowful Lady

Of God you heavenly queen
Oh Mother in grief immersed
By you my soul be possessed
And from you a favor granted.

This ungrateful heart is ready
To be wounded and impaled
By your very holy sword.

Throughout my whole life
With sinning I delighted,
Now with sorrow weeping
Of my sins I am repenting,
I no longer want to sin
Better dead and by you consoled.

When to heaven your body ascends
With the precious power you hold
Shows its purity and its might
Mother forever hold me tight.

You must keep your eyes on me
As a mother watchful be,
If to us you are committed
God his pardon will provide
By this rosary that we recite
Glory we expect in paradise.

Who recites it three times a day
In high heaven with Mary will stay,
When at night three times is recited
From painful death one is released.

When for forty days is supplicated
From hell's pain one is liberated.
And who will proffer in sincere devotion
Prays a "credo" to his death and Passion.

(*) Prayers and Devotional Songs of Sicily, edited and translated into English by Peppino Ruggeri, Legas 2009, p.113-114

Photo of the Week: Madonna della Pietà at the Sanctuary of the Madonna di Picciano, Matera

Grazie mille Andrew Giordano for sharing your wonderful photo
of the Madonna della Pietà at il Santuario dell Madonna di Picciano

Celebrating the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Little Italy, New York

Members of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George 
Photos by New York Scugnizzo

Saturday, September 14th — Members of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George celebrated Solemn High Mass for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross at the Shrine Church of the Most Precious Blood in Little Italy, New York. The Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was sung by Celebrant and Homilist Fr. Richard G. Cipolla, Knight Chaplain of Ecclesiastical Grace. Fr. Tim Iannacone was the Deacon and Fr. Michaels was the subdeacon. The sacred ministers were dutifully assisted by several servers and the Schola St. Hugh under the direction of David J. Hughes.

Led by our esteemed Delegate HE Cav. John M. Viola, Cavalieri John Napoli, Anthony Schembri, Andrew Portelli, and Dame Catherine Stevenson and Jeanne Abate Allen were in attendance.

Thank you Fr. Graebe, Pastor of Most Precious Blood and the Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, and members of the parish family for your warmth and hospitality. God bless the Society of St. Hugh of Cluny, especially Stuart and Jill Chessman, for sponsoring the Mass and their tireless efforts to promote the Tridentine Mass. As always, it was a great joy to celebrate our faith together.

Celebrant and Homilist Fr. Richard G. Cipolla 

Celebrating Solemn High Mass

After Mass, devotees venerate the relic of the True Cross

Devotees also had the opportunity to venerate the relic of San Gennaro

(L) Relic of the True Cross. (R) Relic of San Gennaro

Clergy, knights and servers take a commemorative photo 

Missalettes were generously provided by the Society of St. Hugh of Cluny

Some Thoughts on the She Built NYC Monument Debacle

Monument outside St. Francis Cabrini
Church in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn

I wasn’t planning on writing about the recent St. Frances Xavier Cabrini monument controversy in New York City, but several readers convinced me to break my silence and vent my presumed “outrage.” Yielding to their appeals I will offer my two cents, though I’m sure my opinion on the debacle will not be what they imagined it to be.

For those who are unaware, a competition was held in 2018 by the She Built NYC project to recognize seven so-called “trailblazing women of New York” for a monument-building initiative to help address the lack of statues depicting women in the city and “correct” the historical record.

The progressive scheme was spearheaded by Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen and Chirlane McCray, wife of New York’s socialist Mayor Bill De Blasio. How Mrs. McCray and gang acquired the expertise or authority to spend an estimated $5 million in taxpayer money to build these monuments in a crumbling city, is puzzling to say the least, but their poor execution of the project was most definitely not a surprise.

Predictably, the project was received with as much enthusiasm as the mayoral elections.(1) With an estimated population of 8.6 million people, a mere 1,800 suggestions were made. Of the 320 women nominated, Mother Cabrini was by far the most popular, receiving 219 votes. Despite her popularity among voters, the first American Saint was snubbed by McCray and her blue-ribbon panel. Instead, they chose their own nominees, two of which aren’t even women.(2)

Honestly, who really expected otherwise from this administration? Like virtually all politicians, New York’s First Family have their own agenda and will stop at nothing to impose their will on the rest of us.

Stained glass window at the St. Frances
Cabrini Shrine in Washington Heights, NY
Photos by New York Scugnizzo

Needles to say I did not vote. Having never expected good or fair results from them to begin with, I can truthfully say I’m not upset or disappointed at all. In fact, I’m actually a little relieved they chose to ignore the “will of the people.” Not because the decision exposes their partisan hypocrisy and shows the true face of our Democratic betters. No, that mask has been off for a long time and we already know the whole democratic process is a sham. I’m relieved because our beloved patroness will not be lumped in with some of the other less than admirable honorees or tainted with any connection to this amoral administration.

I’m also glad we won’t have to deal with a potentially heinous work of art by some two-bit hack impersonating an artist. We Catholics have enough problems with modernists in our Church corrupting the aesthetics of our faith (among other things) from within that we don’t need secular and other hostile forces piling on the hate and degradation. Besides, we already have monuments and shrines dedicated to this great Saint. Her likeness can be found in many churches across the city, most notably at St. Francis Cabrini Church in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn and the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Shrine in Washington Heights, New York.

As an aside, I would like to add that unlike some of my aggrieved paesani, I do not believe the saint was snubbed because she was Italian. To be sure, I’m not denying the existence of anti-Italian bigotry; I experience it often enough myself to know that it's alive and well, but if anything, the Mayor and his wife seem to be Italophiles in their own fashion. I believe Mother Cabrini is not getting a statue because she was a good Catholic, which stands diametrically opposed to the values they’re trying to promote with this contrived agitprop.

Sure, I would like to see more monuments to our saints and heroes in our city, but in an increasingly secular, iconoclastic society bent on rewriting history and tearing down statues of historical figures deemed controversial by the PC apparatchiki, the likelihood of that becomes ever more improbable. Instead, our community needs to start focusing more on upholding traditional values and the formation of faith and character. We need to prevent the closing of our churches and the dissolution of our families, or, like with so many today, these monuments will cease to retain their meaning. 

                                     ~ Giovanni di Napoli, Thursday, September 12th, Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary 

The good, the bad, and the ugly: Notable statues in New York City

depicting women include Lady Liberty by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi on Liberty

Island; Fearless Girl by Kristen Visbal outside the New York Stock Exchange;

and Eyes by Louise Bourgeois in the otherwise beautiful Wagner Park

(1) In 2017 the incumbent Mayor Bill de Blasio won re-election with only 726,361 votes. A measly 8.5% of the city’s voters participated in the democratic charade. This was a drop from the already beggarly 795,679 votes he got in 2013.

(2) Shirley Chisholm came in 3rd with 91 votes; Katherine Walker came in 5th with 68 votes; Marsha P. Johnson came in 7th with 65 votes; Sylvia Rivera came in 19th with 21 votes; Elizabeth Jennings Graham came in 22nd with 17 votes; Billie Holiday came in 24th with 16 votes; and Dr. Helen Rodriguez Trías came in 42nd with a paltry 7 votes.

Evviva Maria! A look at the 71st Annual Feast of the Madonna Addolorata in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn

Evviva Maria!

Photos by New York Scugnizzo

The annual procession in honor of Our Lady of Sorrows has been celebrated on the second Sunday of September by the Congrega Maria SS. Addolorata in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn since 1948.

A beautiful shrine for Our Lady was erected on the bye-altar

(L) Some last minute preparations. (R) A couple of adorable angels

The statue is brought out to the expectant crowd 

Members of the Congrega Maria SS. Addolorata pose for a picture outside

Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary — St. Stephen Roman Catholic Church 

(Above & below) Departing the church,
the procession makes its way through the neighborhood

Outside the 76th Precinct, members give thanks to New York's Finest
with a rousing rendition of the National Anthem 

Along the way, people pin donations on to the statue 

Participants take a brief respite at Frank's on Smith Street

Our friends from Frank's generously offered
everyone a delicious sandwich and cold water

The dapper Carrieri-Russo Men and Vincenza enjoying the festivities

Dressed like the Blessed Mother,
these adorable angels carry on a wonderful tradition

Proud papa Joe brings Emma to her first feast

(L) Shrine to the Madonna Addolorata outside the Society's clubhouse. 
(R) Therese Panicali thrilled us with an amazing performance of Ave Maria 

As the sun sets, the torches are lit and the
procession winds its way back to the church

Beneath the festive lights, devotees greet the returning procession

(Above & below) The statue returns with much fanfare

(Above & below) Back at the church,
Therese Panicali performed an encore

The procession closes with a fireworks extravaganza

Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary — St. Stephen Roman Catholic Church