St. Gabriel holds Marian procession to celebrate the feast of the Visitation
When the Blessed Mother learned of her cousin Elizabeth’s pregnancy, she traveled nearly 100 miles from Nazareth to the hill country of Judea to visit her.
Inspired by the holy journey, members of St. Gabriel Parish brought a Marian devotion to the streets of the St. Louis Hills neighborhood on May 31 in honor of the feast of the Visitation.
The day had begun with showers, but by evening the skies had cleared and temperatures had cooled, perfect conditions for the parish’s first outdoor Marian procession. Enthusiastic parishioners suggested the idea, and plans came together with the help of the youth group and other parishioners. Together, they adorned a handmade 13-foot wooden bier with white and yellow lilies, purple chrysanthemums, pink petunias and red roses — all tucked into a bed of greenery — to carry a statue of the Blessed Mother throughout the neighborhood.
Following the 5:30 p.m. Sunday Mass, associate pastor Father Robert Lawson led nearly 100 parishioners through the neighborhood in prayer, reciting the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary.
This year, the feast of the Visitation fell on the same date as the feast of the Most Holy Trinity, observed each year on the Sunday after Pentecost. In his homily, Father Lawson reflected on the rare convergence of the two feasts, highlighting Mary’s relationship with each person of the Trinity — as daughter of God the Father, whose trust allowed her to say “let it be done to me according to your word”; as mother of God the Son, whose intimacy with Christ was unmatched among human beings; and as spouse of the Holy Spirit, whose promptings guided her words in the Magnificat and her courage at the foot of the cross.
The mystery of the Trinity is meant to be carried into everyday life — home, work and neighborhood — so that, like Mary at the Visitation, the faithful can bring the joy and presence of God to others, Father Lawson said. The Marian procession, in a way, is a reenactment of the Visitation — carrying the Trinity out into the neighborhood, just as Mary carried Christ to Elizabeth, he added.
“We are bringing our faith throughout the neighborhood, praying through Mary’s intercession for the Trinity’s intervention in our community,” he said. “Today we do that in a special way. We should do that every single day. Let us strive to … build our relationships with each person (of the Trinity) in our daily lives and carry it throughout the whole world.”
Parishioner Jamie Dunphy described the procession as several years in the making. He had been talking about the idea with fellow parishioners for some time, motivated by a personal devotion to the Blessed Mother, whom he has long turned to as an intercessor and protector in his family’s life, he said.
Dunphy said he has a special devotion to the Miraculous Medal, a sacramental rooted in the 1830 apparitions of the Virgin Mary to St. Catherine Labouré in Paris. A few summers ago, he and his wife Darcy traveled to the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal on the Rue du Bac — the site of the Marian apparitions — where they prayed for Mary’s healing intercession for his wife, who has multiple myeloma.
The family’s devotion also includes the Rosary and a traditional Latin saying, “Sancta Maria, lumine tuo nos dirige” — meaning “Holy Mary, guide us by your light” — a prayer that he said asks for Mary’s guidance, protection and intercession.
For Kelly and Andrew Rocco, the procession was a fitting end to a family celebration. The couple watched from their front porch with their son Theodore, who had just turned 4 years old that day and was already dressed in his pajamas — the procession one of his last adventures before bedtime — as the statue of the Blessed Mother passed just steps from their home near the parish school.
Kelly Rocco sent a message to a neighborhood text thread giving her neighbors a heads up that the Blessed Mother was on her way. “We were like, ‘Mary’s gonna be coming by in a couple of minutes — step outside your house!’” she said.
The Roccos said the moment also spoke to something greater about belonging to the parish community. “More than anything, it’s cool to be part of the parish and be so close, so that it’s easy for us to join into things like this,” Kelly Rocco said. “(Theodore) sees it, he knows that he’s going to go to that school, and all the things that happen in front of our house — we’re like in the thick of it.”
Youth group member Kyle Durante said the procession felt like a natural extension of the Mass. “It was a really good way to honor Mary, and because we know that Mary is the fastest way to Jesus, it was a great way of honoring Jesus as well,” he said. “Going straight from Mass, the procession almost feels like a part of the Mass. I think it would be really good to do it in the following years.”
Twin sisters Ava and Brianna Henderson said the evening was an opportunity to share the faith in a visible way. “It’s subtle, but it’s also not subtle, because we’re walking around, but we’re not doing it for the showy part of it,” Ava said. “We’re doing it because we want to honor Mary in this special way, just like we honor (the) Corpus Christi in that procession. So, it’s a very good thing to bring to the parish, and I’m glad I got to be a part of it.”
