Shrine of St Joseph Celebrates Memorial Day with a Procession
Lowell, MA
By Rebecca A. Duda, Ed. D.
The weekend was “memorable” in more ways than one. Straddling the long holiday weekend was the Shrine’s annual “40 Hours” devotion which focuses on the Lord’s Eucharistic presence in our midst. It featured daily Adoration periods interspersed with celebrations of the Eucharist and incorporating Prayer Services with reflections on the richness of the Lord’s Sacramental presence “I will not leave you orphans… I will be with you until the end of the age.”
The Devotion culminated with a Eucharistic Procession to the Immaculate Conception church with stops at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium where prayers were offered for America’s fallen heroes; on the return, prayers were offered at the Bridge Club in support of the folks heroically working their recovery programs. The devotion ended with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament upon returning to the Shrine.
The closing ceremony also featured a “May Crowning” of a Lourdes image of our Blessed Mother – a fitting homage to the Theotokos, the first among us to welcome the Lord – the very “First Communion” occurred at the Annunciation when she enveloped the Lord in her very being, to be thereby transformed into a vessel of divinity – “capax Dei” – the vocation of every Christian in the world – so empowered to continue Jesus’ mission of transforming the world by ushering-in the Kingdom.
In the midst of all this, the Shrine hosted a holiday gathering of priests from the area sponsored by Regional Bishop Robert Hennessey – some 50 men enjoyed a catered, sit-down meal especially honoring those celebrating silver and golden Jubilees of their ordinations – 2 Shrine Oblate priests were among the Golden Jubilarians: Fr. Stephen Conserva and Fr. Gene Tremblay.