The Knights of Columbus, the Legion of Mary and the Altar and Rosary Society, ministries of Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Cape May, will celebrate the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Wedding of the Sea ceremony following the 11 a.m. Mass on Monday, Aug. 15.
This ceremony is a centuries-old rite that is conducted in many coastal towns. A statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary will be carried in a procession down Ocean Street to the water for the “Blessing of the Sea” by Father Francis W. Danella, pastor of Our Lady Star of the Sea Church.
Father Danella and Cape May mayor, Edward Mahanney, will then hand a floral garland to a waiting lifeguard. He will row his boat into the ocean where he will cast the garland into the water. This signifies the wedding of the sea and the city which are connected through their proximity to one another, their fortunes and future.