Parishioners believe Mary sent a sign
March 10, 2005 - Reported in Spirit Daily.com online newspaper. From thebostonherald.com. Written by Michele McPhee. From There have been many blessings at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the 100 years since Italian immigrants built the East Boston church in 1905, but none as spectacular as what parishioners call The Last Mass Miracle. On Oct. 10, a century-old statue of the Virgin Mary, the church's patron saint, toppled and fell on the altar five minutes after its pastor, the Rev. Francis de Sales Paolo, finished his final Italian sermon. Upon hearing of the fall, parishioner Giovannina Rosapane, 80, ran barefoot to the church from her nearby apartment to help hoist the Madonna. "It was a miracle, " Rosapane said. If it was not a miracle, it was certainly a sign for the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Survivors committee who have occupied the church since its suppression. The church is officially closed, buteach Sunday there are services for parishioners who receive the blessed Eucharist smuggled in by sympathetic Catholic priests. The vigil has raised $25,000 money collected in a basket next to the chipped Madonna statue. Protesters say the unsolicited donations debunk the archdiocese's claim that the parish was too poor to pay its priests. "Every time there was a plea for money, the people came through, " said Lorenzo Grasso, 52, a minister who now delivers Sunday services. This week, committee president Gina Scalcione, 64, stood in a rainbow of light from the church's majestic stained glass windows, rubbed goosebumps and whispered: "How do you evict God?"
|
