Passaic rosary procession

PASSAIC  As a statue of the Blessed Mother passed through the city streets of Passaic for five miles, Catholics found a moment of hope. On Oct. 9, 600 people took part in a rosary procession with the faithful coming from all nine of the Catholic churches in the city to participate. The annual procession is a tradition that takes place in the city during October, the Month of the Holy Rosary.

The procession began at St. Anthony of Padua Church here and ended at the Diocesan Shrine of St. John Paul II/Holy Rosary Church here with stops at all of the other Catholic churches in the city. The seven other Catholic churches are Holy Trinity, Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, St. Joseph, St. Mary of the Assumption, St. Nicholas and St. Stephen.

All four mysteries of the rosary — Joyful, Glorious, Sor­row­ful and Luminous — were recited with prayers in English, Spanish, Polish and Hun­garian, reflecting on the diversity of the city, which is historically known as a first dwelling place for immigrants coming to the United States. Almost all the parishes in the city of Passaic were founded to serve immigrant populations, which also includes Italians, Germans and Slovaks.

Father Stefan Las, pastor of the John Paul II Shrine/Holy Rosary and dean of the Passaic deanery, said, “We felt very blessed to have the procession. We prayed for those affected by the pandemic and for the United States. We are blessed to be able to express our faith so publicly, give witness that the Church is united and together Catholics can do many things especially when we honor our Blessed Mother.”

People of all ages walked ­— from mothers holding their infants to the elderly walking with canes.

Father Las especially noted a woman using a wheelchair joining the procession. “I was touched to see her,” he said. “She wanted to take part. She had a strong faith and she wanted to pray the rosary.”

While hundreds participated in procession throughout the city for almost three hours, many stood on the sidewalk and from their homes looking out their windows and from their front steps to see the procession.

“The people answered the call to intercede to our Mother,” said Father Jorge Rodriguez, pastor of St. Mary and St. Nicholas parishes. “This was an opportunity to pray for the city and come together with so many different communities in our city.”

On a mountain of white flowers, a statue of the Blessed Mother stood on the bed of a pickup truck. Each parish also carried statues of the Blessed Mother along with banners with the name of the parish.

Father Laszlo Baglogh, pastor of St. Stephen Parish, said, “It was a great experience for me to experience. In a way, it was half joy to participate and half sorrow because I was actually supposed to visit my country, Hungary, but due to the pandemic, I am unable to go. It was special to be here and pray with the people of Passaic.”

Coming from St. Anthony Parish in Passaic was Hilda Tejada, a high school sophomore who attended the procession with her parents. “I’ve seen processions that have been done in the past and I have never had the experience to participate in such a big procession with so many people,” she said. “To see people involved and see the love and devotion people have toward the mother of Jesus brought me joy. I did it as a sacrifice to the Virgin Mary to thank her and express my gratitude for all the blessings my family and I have received and for maintaining us healthy and well,” she told The Beacon.

Another youth from St. Anthony’s who also participated was Valerie Rodriguez. “I really enjoyed being in the procession. I did not know that there were a lot of parishes in Passaic. It was great to see a lot of kids my age and younger starting their faith at an early age. I was impressed to see and know that even if you are from another country and speak a different language, as Catholics, we are united as one. I realized being from different parts of the world, we have one Heavenly Father and our Blessed Mother always prays for us,” she said.

While the pandemic may have had less people participate than in the past, the parishes in the city will continue to host the rosary procession every October and bring the community together again to pray to the Blessed Mother.

New to the Passaic procession was Father Dariusz Kaminski, who was named pastor of St. Joseph this past summer. “This was a wonderful experience and showed great unity in prayer,” he said. “With the situation of the world being so difficult, people found hope, joy and peace.”