Feast of the Assumption draws large crowd for Mass, procession

The feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary fell on a Saturday this year, so it wasn’t a holy day of obligation. But that didn’t matter to the hundreds of faithful who filled every inch of Holy Rosary Church in Cleveland’s Little Italy neighborhood on Aug. 15 for Mass.

Prayer, including daily Masses and the rosary are major parts of the parish’s annual four-day festival – Aug. 13-16 – as well as the traditional food, games and processions.

Bishop Martin Amos, a son of the diocese and the retired bishop of Davenport, Iowa, celebrated the liturgy. Concelebrants were priests who had connections to the parish: Father Joe Previte, Holy Rosary pastor; Father Phil Racco, Father Anthony Marshall, Father Chris Stein, Father Joe Menkhaus, Father Brian Peters and Father Sean Neville.

The bishop recalled hearing as a young boy that Pope Pius XII declared the feast of the Assumption to be a dogma of the Church. “She’s the fulfillment of everything we hope to be,” he said. “She was unique in her earthly life.”

In his homily, Bishop Amos noted that Mary gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God, but also did the “routine” things other devout Jewish mothers did like presenting him in the temple. She also was present for his public ministry and at the foot of the cross.

“She was unique,” he repeated, saying she was the mother of Jesus, she is the mother of the Church and she is our spiritual mother. “She was the perfect disciple, the image of what we should be. She heard the word of God and lived it, as we should.”

After Mass, many of the clergy and congregation joined others for a procession led by a large statue of the Blessed Mother through the streets surrounding the church.

The festival continued through Aug. 16, when it ended with Mass, a prayer service and an evening procession.

Holy Rosary, which was established in 1892 as an Italian parish, has hosted “The Feast,” a celebration of the Gospel of Life, faith and family, since 1898. Proceeds from the festival support ongoing maintenance of the parish buildings and grounds.