Crowning at Crestwood Parish Highlights Mary’s Role in Families

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Devotion to the Blessed Mother was familial, and in full bloom, at Annunciation parish in Crestwood on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

The parish on Westchester Avenue hosted the crowning of a Eucharistic statue of the Queen of the Clergy and Queen of Families Oct. 7.

Eight nearby parishes also participated in the evening liturgy: Assumption and Immaculate Conception, both of Tuckahoe; St. Barnabas and St. Philip Neri, both of the Bronx; St. Eugene’s, Yonkers; St. Joseph’s, Bronxville; Our Lady of Fatima, Scarsdale and Sacred Heart, Hartsdale.

“It seems most appropriate that at different moments in the history of the Church, where there would be a special need, often enough the Blessed Mother would be involved in it,” said Father Robert Grippo, pastor of Annunciation, who crowned the statue.

Families were remembered locally and globally, as the crowning of the statue aligned with events in Rome, specifically the Oct. 5-19 Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family.

“We pray for the strength that Catholic families need, and certainly that the clergy needs,” Father Grippo said. “In the days in which we are, it appears that both clergy and families are at the center of attack, as it were. To have the Blessed Mother really protecting, watching over and guiding both families and clergy—priests being ‘fathers of family, of parishes,’” is most fitting, he added.

Young and old alike filled the church and showed their affection for Mary by praying the Rosary. As students from Annunciation School formed a living Rosary, seminarians from nearby St. Joseph Seminary in Dunwoodie led the decades. After each “Hail Mary,” school children carried a rose to the feet of the newly crowned statue. A prayer of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary followed.

Adoration and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament were offered as a reminder of the strength that comes from the Eucharist.

The liturgy, which included an honor guard of the Knights of Columbus, followed the conclusion of a novena to Mary Queen of Families the day before. The pastor said he hopes that families continue to pray together at home and, at church before the Blessed Sacrament, “to remain strong and vibrant.”

In addition to Mass attendance, families should receive the sacrament of reconciliation, Father Grippo said.

Being mindful of the Blessed Mother’s constant care and concern should be a comfort for families, he added. “At the foot of the cross, she was present and that is where the Lord had entrusted her to St. John and he to her—that she would be really given to all of us as Catholics as our mother, who would be there to watch over and advise.”

Mary counsels her children “to turn to the Lord and do whatever He tells you,” Father Grippo said.

The statue remains at Annunciation Church, near the altar of St. Joseph, for the faithful to view. Additional family-centered devotionals will follow at the parish, according to the pastor.

The crowning of the statue and Rosary devotional at Annunciation were videotaped and will be shared with other parishes to promote Eucharistic and family renewal, said Kathleen Keefe, a member of Annunciation parish.

Mrs. Keefe, who also serves as director of the Peace Through Divine Mercy apostolate for priestly and family renewal, commissioned the statue for her parish.

The statue is modeled after a similar one given to her in 2004 by a woman who “rescued it,” she said, from a thrift shop years earlier. There, the discarded statue was displayed with a Halloween basket hanging from a broken arm. “The mockery of the statue disturbed the woman so much that she brought it home,” Mrs. Keefe said. “For almost 10 years, a group of people prayed for priests and for families, in reparation.” (A Discalced Carmelite nun restored the damaged statue, which was crafted in 1922.)

The more Mrs. Keefe shared the story of the desecrated statue, the more she was encouraged to commission a new one. “Before I knew it, benefactors came and offered the money for the statue to be made,” she said. “It was really an action of the Holy Spirit and the people to make reparation to our Lady when they heard the story of her public mockery.”

Made in Portugal, the new, wood-carved statue of Mary and the Christ-child in hand-painted white is 48 inches in height. The Granda crowns came from Spain.

Mrs. Keefe said she was delighted that the church was filled for the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. The crowning of the statue “really touched the hearts of the people,” she added. “We felt very much that Our Lady was reaching the family on a very deep level.”

The emphasis on the Blessed Mother, the Eucharist and the Child Jesus truly resonated with the faithful, she said. “We prayed for that, but it was beyond all our expectations.”

Colored rosaries were distributed to participants as a reminder of the Church universal: the beads of each decade bore a different color, which represented the continents. “We introduced the whole community to the concept of praying for the entire world,” Mrs. Keefe said. “The petitions were for all of the Church. We were very conscious of the fact that the synod on the family was going on. The children loved it, so did the adults.”

The goal was surpassed, she said, when attendees asked for additional rosaries for their grandchildren who were not present.

In all, about 700 rosaries were distributed. “Many people said they had not seen this kind of devotional reverence for 20 or 30 years,” she said.