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November 4, 2020By Tanya Connor
The Catholic Free Press
CLINTON – The saints came riding in to St. John, Guardian of Our Lady Parish for their feast day Nov. 1. But instead of marching through the streets as planned, they stayed in the church and on the lawn, where the “saints still striving” for heaven came to see them.
The heavenly saints were represented by 16 life-sized statues, and 15 banners, each three feet by five feet. They spanned the ages, from the precursor of Christ to people who some of today’s Catholics have met.
“We had such a successful Corpus Christi procession (in June) … I just wanted to do … two processions a year,” said the pastor, Father James S. Mazzone.
So he ordered statues for an All Saints’ Day procession from Orlandi Statuary in Chicago, where he’d gotten quality, affordable statues for Holy Name of Jesus House of Studies when he served there. (One popular saint was missing. The mold for the St. Joan of Arc statue broke at the factory, so the parish is to get her statue later, he said.)
Father Mazzone said he designed banners of other saints and had two of each made by an online company called Half Price Banners. The banners were to be mounted on poles back-to-back for the procession around town.
The hope was to have more diversity, including African, Asian and Eastern saints, but finding “super-high resolution” pictures suitable for enlarging was tricky, so he chose the ones that looked best, he said. He said he can never have enough banners; “hopefully we’ll find more, and more diverse.”
Expenses for the project were paid by a posthumous gift from lifelong parishioner Charles J. Moran, who died Aug. 30, 2019, Father Mazzone said. He said he suggested “the allocation of Charlie’s gift to this annual procession” to his sister Renie Moran and “she thought it was a great way to honor her brother, who never sought any recognition for his generosity.”
Father Mazzone said he sought women from the parish to carry the banners in the procession and four men to carry each hollow, fiberglass statue on its aluminum carrier. He held a lottery at the bishop’s residence to assign statue-bearers.
“I just wanted to generate some excitement,” he said, explaining why he and the associate pastor, Father Juan Sebastian Sanchez, met with Bishop McManus, who drew the names.
Father Mazzone had asked the bishop to assign the statue of St. Benedict to brothers from the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of St. Benedict Center in Still River. The brothers, and laity associated with them, were also in the lottery.
“We were watching – it was live on Facebook,” said Brother Thomas Augustine Dalton, one of the brothers. “We said, ‘They must have forgotten to put our names in.’ We were the last ones picked. It turned out to be the statue of the Blessed Mother. … We were delighted!”
He said they were disappointed to learn the procession was postponed; “we’re looking forward to the actual day that it happens.”
Father Mazzone said the town board of health asked the parish not to hold the procession because of concerns about COVID-19, so the parish will wait for an appropriate time. He made the best of the change in plans, offering the faithful other opportunities to encounter the saints.
The statues, which had been unwrapped at St. John’s Gym, were trucked over to the church, where they were set up behind the altar rail. Father Sanchez hung one copy of each banner inside, and the other banners were positioned on the lawn.
On All Hallow’s Eve (Halloween morning) the priests blessed the banners and statues, sharing information about, and quotes by, the saints. Despite the unseasonably cold day, about 14 people lined the sidewalk for the outdoor blessing, and double that number sat in the pews for the blessings inside.
The young – and not-so-young – were invited to light the 35 candles in front of each statue on that night.
Bishop McManus, who was to participate in the procession, celebrated the 10:30 a.m. Mass Sunday. In addition to the other Masses, there were times for personal prayer, with hymns/litanies, and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.
“It’s a beautiful tribute that he’s doing this,” St. John’s parishioner Cathy Guadagnoli said after the blessing of the outdoor banners. “It’s a shame that we couldn’t have the procession. With social distancing, this is second best, I guess.”
As she prepared to go in the church for more blessings, she said she couldn’t wait to see the statues, which she’d seen only on social media.
Her sister Mary Favreau, also a member of St. John’s, said the effort Father Mazzone put into the celebration was wonderful, “especially at this time … with all that’s going on in the world, all the civil unrest.”
“He’s a wonderful priest,” added their sister Phyllis Krafve.
After the blessing of the statues, Dan and Maureen Burke brought their boys Edmund, 2, and Patrick, 7 months, up to the statues and took photos, including one in front of the statue of St. Patrick.
