After the Assumption Mass on Aug. 15, Bishop Sullivan joined the parish in a procession to the shoreline, boarded an Atlantic City Beach Patrol lifeguard boat and conducted the ancient Italian tradition of the Wedding of the Sea, where he blessed the Atlantic Ocean and the city so that their union would continue to benefit the people who rely on each.
In normal years, the Wedding of the Sea Festival is the signature annual event of the citywide Parish of Saint Monica. This year, instead of the thousands of faithful who would pack Boardwalk Hall, the event was pared down in light of the COVID-19 epidemic.
The Wedding of the Sea tradition began in Venice around the year 1000 AD. The civil and religious leaders of Venice performed an annual “wedding” between the city and the Adriatic Sea on the Feast of the Ascension of Christ. The ritual symbolized the maritime power’s vital relationship to the sea. The tradition came to Atlantic City through St. Michael’s Church, an historically Italian parish, but was celebrated on a different feast, the Assumption of Mary.
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