Celebrating our parish feast
by David Lupo, sscc

 

On Sunday, August 16^th, Our Lady of the Assumption celebrated our parish festa with great gusto and joy.  The actual feast day is August 15^th, but we typically observe it on the closest Sunday.  Next year will bring alignment, as we will do it all again on the 15^th.

 The event began with a procession, prepared inside the church. Portuguese-speaking parishioners love processions. My brothers and sisters from the Cape Verde islands have both African and Portuguese roots.  The procession around several blocks lasted 45 minutes. We all processed in to the hymn, “O Maria Minha Mae” (O Mary My Mother) as the bilingual Mass began outside the church, under several tents.

The weather was very cooperative, a nice summer day with low humidity. Although I do not speak Portuguese, I do my best with pronouncing the words as best as I could. People have been happy with that for my nearly four years here. The music for the Mass was in both languages (Portuguese and English), sung by a combined choir. The readings were in both languages, as was the homily after the Gospel. With the large turnout, we wondered if Holy Communion would be a problem, due to our “aisles” not being very wide and so many chairs.  But again, all went well. There was so much to thank God for.

Fr. David with Dcn. Vishal Khute

After the Mass, it was time to eat! And the Cape Verdean food at OLOA parish is always good. Cachupa, Canja, and Jag Rice again were all the most popular choices (look them up!). There was so much food, and everyone had their fill.

Then it was time for entertainment as Milton Tavares and his band played through the sunny, friendly afternoon. Many of us got up to dance, even me (I hope no one took pictures of me making a fool of myself!). Again, a very fine day that everyone enjoyed.

There was so much to thank God for!