Close

Professor of religion Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada says that growing up in New York City she was always fascinated by street fairs. “There’s just a certain sort of magic about them,” she says. “You’re walking down the street, thinking it’s just a normal day, and all of a sudden you happen upon a saint’s procession or celebration. There are tents, speci...

693

The 128th anniversary of the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel will be a scaled-back affair focusing on the religious dimensions of the celebration. The street festival has been canceled, but the Novena, banner and rose presentations, and memorial service are still on. Masses at 7:30, 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. on July 18 will be followed by a mobile proces...

947

On June 24th the feast of San Giovanni is, more than a relic, like an Italian monument from an age before history, which the tooth of time has eroded but not destroyed. Together with Christmas and the Nativity of Mary, the feast of San Giovanni is the only Christian feast that do not celebrate the death, but the birth of a saint. Both Christmas and...

827

The life of an Italian immigrant who later founded one of the largest charitable organizations in the world will be captured in a film that includes scenes to be shot in Buffalo beginning next month. Hundreds of people are sought to be hired as paid extras. The film, Cabrini, will be a biopic of Francesca Saviero Cabrini, who was later known as Fra...

1237

Not only is Monsignor Franco a Son of the Church, he is a son of New York and Italian immigrants. Born in the Bronx, his work has taken him all around the world, including Staten Island in the 1960’s to the Church of the Assumption on Brighton Avenue in Tompkinsville. Monsignor Franco even organized dances at the church and invited Chubby Checker,...

524

Sister Francis Marie Vallone, a Franciscan nun for 75 years, taught religion and assisted applicants and new members in her early years in the order. In her later years, Sister Vallone developed ministries to the elderly, including those living in nursing homes. "She loved her ministries," said Sister Peggy Wetzel, of the Western New York regional...

440

“Monumental” is an apt description of Monsignor Joseph L. Luca’s accomplishments at St. Louis Parish in Clarksville. When he arrived at the fast-growing Howard County parish in 1996, the new pastor inherited a landlocked campus with a severe space crunch. The then-2,700 family faith community had already outgrown a new church that had been built on...

794

The popular St. Ann's Festival in Hoboken, also known as "The Feast," will make its triumphant return to Hoboken this July after being canceled last summer due to coronavirus, according to an update from the organizers this week on their Facebook page. The traditional Feast of St. Ann has drawn fans from around the country with its nightly live...

664

Located about 31 miles north of Assisi is the scenic hill town of Gubbio. Known for the largest Christmas tree in the world (each year, lights on Mt. Inigo above the old town are illuminated in the form of a tree), it is also associated with St. Francis, and has an incorruptible saint.  St. Francis and the wolf Today Gubbio is easily accessible fro...

825

A Roman Catholic group dedicated to a popular Italian saint sued a southeastern Michigan township Wednesday after the local government rejected plans for a chapel and prayer trail in a wooded area. The project was approved by the planning commission in Livingston County's Genoa Township, but the township board rejected it, 5-2, on May 3. Catholic...

823