FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 15, 2020
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Adriana Rodriguez
718-517-3143
arodriguez@desalesmedia.org
John Quaglione
718-517-3112
jquaglione@desalesmedia.org
COVID-19 CANCELS OUR LADY OF MT. CARMEL FEAST AND GIGLIO LIFT: PARISH VIRTUAL EVENT OBSERVES WILLIAMSBURG TRADITION
Feast Day Mass To Be Celebrated in English and Italian as Planned Tomorrow
Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello, Pastor of Brooklyn’s Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish, this week presided over a virtual celebration of the annual Williamsburg tradition, the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, on the first of what was scheduled to be two Giglio Sundays.
The event, broadcast on Facebook from the parish hall, was watched live by 63,000 people. Monsignor Gigantiello, who opened the event with a prayer and remarks, is hopeful that this will be the first and last time the Giglio Sunday celebrations will be virtual. He also offered prayers to Our Lady of Mount Carmel for her continued watch over the parish and protection of its people, and for those lost to the Coronavirus.
“This is the first time in seventy-five years the Giglio will not rise, the first time in the lifetime of many people, that the feast will not take place and the Giglio not lifted. The feast has taken place in Brooklyn for more than one hundred years, and is very much a part of our faith community and summer in New York,” said Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello.
At the start of the panel discussion featuring festival leaders, and this year’s Capo, John Christopher, both the national anthems of the United States of America and Italy were played by a Giglio band. The Capo runs the Giglio lift and procession. The panel discussion featured a discussion on the history of the feast. To view the video, visit the parish Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/
A mass in English and Italian, scheduled for tomorrow at 12 noon, Thursday, July 16, 2020, the Feast Day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, will continue as planned at the Church located at 275 N. 8th Street in Brooklyn. A procession will follow at the conclusion of the mass.
Anyone interested in donating to the feast, to support the parish ministries, is encouraged to do so online at http://givecentral.org/olmc-
###