Bishop Dennis Sullivan waves as he prepares to venture into the ocean to cast a wreath Aug. 15, the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Atlantic City. (Jennifer Mauro)
Processing along the Atlantic City boardwalk on the Solemnity of the Assumption, Patricia Di Maria reflected on the moment the Blessed Mother transformed her life.
“I was sitting on my couch, about 4 p.m. in the afternoon and had just finished watching TV,” said Di Maria, a parishioner of Saint Simon Stock Parish, Berlin. “I felt empty inside, and I said to myself, ‘I can’t go on like this anymore.’ So I started praying.”
Di Maria, who had fallen away from practicing her Catholic faith, offered up her prayers to Mary. She started going back to church, ending up in the pews of what was then Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Berlin. “While praying, this woman turns around to me and says, ‘Our Lady thanks you for staying for the Rosary.’ My faith took off from there.”
Now, nearly 40 years later, she says, “Our Lady interceded for me, and I feel like she saved my life by bringing me to Jesus.”
Di Maria was among the thousands of faithful from the Diocese of Camden and beyond who took part in Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrations, observed Aug. 14-15 in conjunction with the Wedding of the Sea. From Cape May to Brigantine and parishes in-between, parishioners and visitors alike attended Masses and took part in processions to the ocean. The Italian tradition traces its roots to Venice around 1000 A.D. A crown of flowers is tossed into the ocean with a blessing for the Mother Mary’s intercession in the relationship between town and sea.
Bishop Dennis Sullivan celebrated Mass in two shore parishes over the weekend, Notre Dame de la Mer, Wildwood, and the Parish of Saint Monica, Atlantic City.
Surrounded by Diocese of Camden seminarians, Bishop Dennis Sullivan prayers during the Wedding of the Sea celebration Aug. 14 in Wildwood. (Mike Walsh)
“At the end of her earthly life, the blessed Virgin Mary was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory in a singular participation in her son’s Resurrection,” Bishop Sullivan preached in Saint Nicholas of Tolentine Church, a parish worship site. “For her courageous discipleship as the Mother of the Savior, Mary is blessed at her death with full union with the Lord. So we see in her … the first fruits of the Resurrection of the dead in the last day.”
Reflecting on his January 2020 pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Bishop Sullivan recalled being moved by artwork depicting a swaddled Blessed Mother being held by her son as she passes from this life.
“What caught my attention was that it depicted Jesus cradling his mother in his arms as she was leaving this life and being born into eternal, everlasting life,” he said. “She, who lovingly cradled him in her arms at his birth, in his infancy and in his childhood. She who lovingly cradled him when his body was taken down from the Cross.
“I thought, ‘What a beautiful understanding of the Assumption – what was done for her by her son, who took her into the fullness of Glory,’” he continued. “As we reflect on what the Almighty has done for Mary at the end of her life, I think it’s very worthwhile to ask yourselves, ‘What has God done for you?’”
Photos from Wedding of the Sea Celebrations Across the Diocese
A young person collects water that has just been blessed during a Wedding of the Sea ceremony near Saint Thomas the Apostle Church, Brigantine. (Dave Hernandez)
Father Thomas Newton, pastor of Saint Damien Parish, Ocean City, prepares to go into the ocean for the Wedding of the Sea Aug. 15. (Maria D’Antonio)
Father Perry Cherubini, pastor of Saint Joseph Parish, Sea Isle City, distributes the Eucharist to a young parishioner Aug. 15 during the Mass for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. (Alan M. Dumoff)
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