Procession Honors Mary’s Stainless Being

ERIKA ANDERSON, Staff Writer

Published: December 23, 2004

ATLANTA—It was a celebration of the dogma that had been a part of the Catholic Church for 150 years, and the beginning of a new tradition in the Archdiocese of Atlanta that will hopefully continue for years to come, as a Mass and procession in honor of the feast of the Immaculate Conception was held Dec. 8.

Hundreds took shelter from the cold December air at Sacred Heart Church as they gathered to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the declaration of the infallible doctrine of Mary’s Immaculate Conception. On Dec. 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX made the declaration that the “Blessed Virgin Mary was preserved, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of God omnipotent and because of the merits of Jesus Christ the Savior of the human race, free from all stain of Original Sin.”

One hundred and fifty years later, the faithful of Atlanta affirmed that dogma at the Mass organized by Father Tom Hennessy, pastor of St. Patrick’s Church in Norcross, and celebrated by Father Kevin Peek, chaplain of Blessed Trinity High School in Roswell. Father Joseph Peek concelebrated the Mass. The congregation was made up of Catholics of every race and age, including many young adults.

Father Peek, in his homily, spoke of his childhood as one of 11 children in a family devoted to the Blessed Mother.

“Every night, as soon as dinner was done and the dishes were clean, we all went into the living room … before a statue of Our Lady of Fatima we all prayed the rosary,” he said.

But despite the faith of his family, Father Peek said he struggled with the concept of the Immaculate Conception.

“For all that, I still didn’t get Mary. I knew she was beautiful, I knew she was holy and I knew she was important because she was the Mother of God,” he said. “But then I turned to the Scriptures. It was then that I discovered the power of her title of the Immaculate Conception. It was in Scripture that I learned that for all of history, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, Mary is our hero.”

Because the name of Mary is synonymous with the name of Jesus, the Blessed Mother offers hope for all, Father Peek said.

“When the name of Mary is spoken, the name of Jesus rings throughout the universe. Because Mary was made for Jesus, everything about her screams the victory of Jesus Christ,” he said. “The whole reason Jesus came to earth is so that all of humanity could be like Mary. So every time the name of Jesus rings out, Mary’s name rings out all the prouder. Mary stands for all that we are intended to be, what we can be, what we hope to be.”

Following the Mass, participants gathered outside of the church and held lit candles. Led by a police escort, men carrying a statue of Mary, on a throne of red roses and white carnations, headed up the procession of followers.

As participants made their way slowly down Peachtree Street, Father Hennessy led them in the joyful and then sorrowful mysteries of the rosary. The parade of lit candles and the sounds of voices lifted in prayer caused many curious onlookers to emerge from buildings along the busy downtown street.

Clarence DeSouza, a member of the Atlanta Indian Catholic Association and a parishioner of St. Patrick’s Church, said that the Mass and procession were unique ways to honor Mary.

“It’s fantastic, and I hope it will get even bigger in the next few years,” he said.

A Knights of Columbus honor guard from St. Patrick’s Church also helped to lead the procession, which concluded appropriately at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. There, the statue of Mary was placed in front of the altar, and participants knelt in prayerful song to Mary.

Father Peek prayed for “those who saw and understood (the procession) and for those whose curiosity was touched” that their “hunger for God” would be filled.

Father Hennessy said he hopes the procession is one of many.

“This was wonderful. Mary shows us her love every day, and this was a way for us to show her we love her,” he said.

Rozlin Broome, a parishioner of St. Ann’s Church in Marietta, brought her boyfriend, Bryan Grizzell, a Methodist, who was impressed by the prayerful spirit of the procession.

“It was really neat to see all the traffic stopped on Peachtree. You don’t get a chance to see that very often,” he said. “I thought it was a nice tribute to a major figure in the Catholic Church.”

Though as a Methodist Grizzell does not offer Marian prayers, he “definitely learned the words to the ‘Hail Mary’” during the procession.

Broome said that she attended the celebration to help put her in a proper frame of mind for the Advent season.

“I was thinking that the spirit of Mary and the candlelight would bring me closer to the spirit of Christmas,” she said.

To Broome, Mary represents “hope, guidance and purity,” and she was touched by the procession that wound its way through Atlanta.

“I think it brought the whole spirit of Atlanta together, and helped us to take the authentic roots of our faith back to today (the feast of the Immaculate Conception) being what it’s intended to be—a holy day.”