New prayer garden

PATERSON  Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to Our Lady of Pompei Parish here Oct. 13, where he served as main celebrant and homilist of the 10:30 a.m. Mass for the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time. After Mass, he blessed a new prayer garden behind the church, which encourages people to “pray for an end to abortion, for women in crisis, for the healing of men who lost fatherhood and for women who are suffering trauma,” according to Father Frank Agresti, pastor. At the garden’s center is a statue of Our Lady Help of Christians with the Christ Child. The garden also contains a statue of Don Bosco, founder of the Salesian religious order, pointing the way to Mary; a black steel cross; and a statue of St. Joseph the Worker. Lit at night, the landscaped garden is surrounded by Stations of the Cross.

Several parishioners, along with Father Agresti, worked since Lent to make the prayer garden possible.