SHENANDOAH — A crowd of more than 100 marched through the streets of the borough Sunday morning, continuing an annual tradition to honor Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
It was the 103rd annual procession of the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Following a Mass at Divine Mercy Parish, 230 W. Cherry St., the Upper Schuylkill Band led the lineup through the borough and back to the church.
“I’m glad we’re keeping it going. We’re trying,” procession coordinator Tom Talerico, Shenandoah, said.
As part of the tradition, some people carried homemade “cintas,” or small shrines, on top of their heads. They included Sarah Toborowski, 27, of Media, Delaware County. The one she carried was a replica of the former Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church on Washington Street.
“My father is from Shenandoah originally,” she said, referring to David Toborowski, 61.
“This one’s, like, 75 years old,” her father said, pointing to it.
“And that one’s over 80,” he said, pointing to one being carried by Ed Shafransky Jr., 39, of Shenandoah.
They were family heirlooms decorated with candles.
“Someone gave them to our family,” Catherine Toborowski, 87, of Shenandoah Heights, said. David Toborowski is her nephew.
“I believe they belonged to the Vatalare family,” David said.
“I’m the last of the Vatalares,” Catherine said. “It’s important to our family because this is a tradition. We grew up with this. We belonged to Our Lady of Mount Carmel all our lives. And even though we don’t have our own church anymore, she’s still with us. And we still honor Our Lady of Mount Carmel.”
The celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel — which on the liturgical calendar is July 16 — honors the Blessed Virgin Mary and recalls the traditions held in small towns of Italy.
“I was part of this since I was a kid, an altar boy,” Talerico, 69, of Shenandoah, said.
For many years, an annual Italian festival was part of the festivities.
“It was like a homecoming. And, in some ways, it still is,” Talerico said.
In July 2014, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church in Shenandoah marked its 100th anniversary. At the time, it was on Washington Street. That year was also the 100th annual celebration of the procession.
On July 28, 2014, the Catholic parishes of Shenandoah and Lost Creek merged into Divine Mercy Parish. The Our Lady of Mount Carmel statue was moved from the Washington Street church to Divine Mercy, and the tradition of the procession continued.
Mass on Sunday was celebrated by Monsignor Ronald C. Bocian, pastor.
Afterward, the statue, which was displayed near the altar, was carried outside for the procession.
In the first 100 years of the procession, it would be brought out to the entrance/porch of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and families would bid dollar amounts to carry it in the procession.
That changed in 2015 when the event moved to Divine Mercy Parish.
“Now, the people who carry the statue represent many families, like the Toborowskis, the Kellys, the Bindies, all the families and friends of the parish,” Talerico said. “The long and short of it is, since it’s a unified church, everybody’s helping out. When we became Divine Mercy, we stopped the bidding.”
People continue to pin cash to the statue as a donation to the parish, however.
“Last year, she pulled in $2,100. In the old days, we used to pull in $30,000. It was a different Shenandoah,” Talerico said.
People who helped carry the statue and the canopy Sunday included: John Kelly, Shenandoah; Tom Toborowski, Shenandoah; John Catizone Jr., Lost Creek; Carmen Cicioni, Ringtown, and Carmen’s sister, Mariah, Ringtown, and Jack Ambarian, 17, of Wyomissing, Berks County, and his brothers, Joseph, 15, and Will, 12.
The procession began at Divine Mercy Church, moved east on Cherry Street, turned left onto West Street, crossed Centre Street and continued through the northwest side of the borough. It eventually ended up back at the church.
“I believe the route is three miles,” Talerico said.
As it came down East Lloyd Street, Mary Ann Bruni and her family handed out cold bottles of water to participants.
Diane Bindie, Shenandoah, was carrying a cinta.
“I’ve been doing this for, maybe, the past 20 years. I do this for the Blessed Mother. It’s good for me. When it’s in your heart, that’s what counts,” she said.
Joestelle DeLuca-Dunsavage, Ringtown, was carrying one too.
“I think I’ve been participating in this event for 52 years. I have mixed emotions today,” she said.
Her daughter, Angelica Dunsavage, 26, is planning to attend the University of Arizona to earn a doctorate in choral conducting.
“Right now, I’m just glad to be back home. With traveling and being away, I miss it,” she said.
“She’s moving to Arizona next week,” DeLuca-Dunsavage said.
“One day I want to be a college professor,” Angelica said.
Among those in the crowd was Mike Cadau, a member of the Shenandoah Valley Class of 1985 who was named to the Shenandoah Valley Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.
“This tradition has always been part of my life. Wherever I’m at in the world, I always come back to this,” Cadau, now of Wyomissing, said.
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