At times, the weather was frightful, but frigid temperatures and snow flurries did little to dampen the enthusiasm of those who gathered for Mass and the annual parade on St. Patrick’s Day.
Bishop Edward Malesic was the Mass celebrant at St. Colman Church in Cleveland, where hundreds of people crammed into every nook and cranny, including the choir loft. Father Caroli Shao, A.J., St. Colman pastor, welcomed all. A half-dozen priests concelebrated the liturgy, the traditional start to St. Patrick’s Day festivities.
The church was a sea of green as many of the marching units and parade honorees filled the front pews.
(See photo gallery above.)
“This day belongs to God. Let us give it to him,” the bishop said as the fifes, drums and music quieted at the beginning of Mass. “Put faith before festivities.” He offered the traditional shamrock blessing and sprinkled the congregation with holy water before continuing the liturgy.
In his homily, Bishop Malesic reflected on the life of St. Patrick, an immigrant, who was not welcomed to Ireland. Instead, he arrived as a slave. “He understood rejection,” the bishop said. However, Patrick’s return years later was intentional as he ministered to bring the Irish to the Catholic faith.
“As a former slave, he spoke to the dignity of the marginalized,” the bishop said, noting St. Patrick worked to bring peace and reconciliation to Ireland, his adopted home. “He didn’t just speak words of peace, he lived it,” he said, which is something we should be mindful of today.
“The peace we find here we must take outside … Jesus calls us all to be instruments of his peace in how we live our lives and how we follow him.”
Although the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day occurs in the midst of the sacred season of Lent, a season of renewal, “We should set aside what distracts us and focus on what matters.”
Many of those at St. Colman were from the Irish American Club West Side and the United Irish Societies of Greater Cleveland, which organizes the annual Cleveland St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
The 2026 honorees were Thomas Mackin, parade grand marshal, St. Christopher Parish, Rocky River; Mary Catherine “Midge” Gannon, Irish Mother of the Year, St. Patrick Parish, West Park; Bob Crawford, parade co-chair, St. Dominic Parish, Shaker Heights; Donna Leary, parade co-chair, a graduate of St. Colman School and St. Stephen High School, and Maire O’Leary Manning, Hibernian of the Year, St. Clement Parish, Lakewood.
Auxiliary Bishop Michael Woost celebrated Mass for the Irish American Club East Side at SS. Robert and William Church in Euclid before meeting Bishop Malesic downtown for the parade.
Bishop Malesic blessed the parade before it stepped off in a burst of snow. A number of Catholic organizations, parishes and schools were among the parade participants.
St. Peter Church on the Superior Avenue parade route welcomed those needing to warm up, and hosted its annual bake sale, something many parade-goers appreciated.