When Fr. Myron Miller built the current Church of St. Cecilia in 1956, moving the parish to Newfield Ave. from its original location on Weed Hill, he made sure to bring some things with him to the new church. One thing he brought was the beautiful statue of St. Cecilia that had stood since 1926 above the tabernacle of the sanctuary in the original church. Now, that statue sits above a bank of votive candles in the devotional niche to the right of the church nave.
Fr. Miller also brought three outdoor statues that had stood in the parish’s grotto. One statue is St. Christopher, another is the Infant Jesus of Prague. The third, which is the largest and most striking of the three, is a statue of the Blessed Mother. Fr. Miller erected the statuary in the southeast corner of the property, alongside Newfield Ave. This decision made good pastoral sense if one considers that the 1950s, despite appearances of material prosperity and cultural stability, were the height of the Cold War, when another catastrophic world conflict seemed a real possibility. Archbishop Fulton Sheen wrote at the time that, “The 20th century resurgence of devotion to Mary is God’s way of pulling the world away from the primacy of the economic to the primacy of the human.” Thus, rather than a shallow gesture to popular piety, the shrine served as a place where people could go and entrust their anxious hearts to Our Lady and be reminded that God knew and loved them.
This summer, a parishioner offered to make some improvements to the shrine. After 70 years, the trees and the bushes had grown, and the statue of the Blessed Mother had become less visible. If you visit the shrine today, you will see a beautifully landscaped walkway leading from the driveway by the parish office to devotional areas featuring the three statues, with Our Lady enjoying a special place of honor. In the evening, her statue is illuminated and visible to all who pass by on Newfield Ave.
Last Sunday, September 8, Bishop Frank Caggiano came to bless the shrine. Noting that it was the feast of Our Lady’s birthday, he told the families gathered that they had given the Mother of God a wonderful gift. By bringing the statue of Mary forward into a more prominent place, the bishop expressed his hope that it would be a sign to passers-by of the presence of the Church, and of God’s tender concern for them. For we too live in an anxious age, with many people feeling lost, unsure of life’s meaning, and worried about the future. My hope is that the beauty of the shrine will transform people’s daily walks and jogs – and commutes! – into mini pilgrimages, filling the hearts of all who visit with greater love for the Mother of God, whose greatest desire is to bring people to know her Son.
I’m very grateful to Luigi and Ralph Altamura of Altamura Homes for the wonderful improvements they made to the shrine, and to Mike Schinella who did the masonry work.
posted 9/14/24
The Parish of St. Cecilia-St. Gabriel 