Old St. Mary’s parishioners join Archbishop Vigneron in Eucharistic procession through Greektown to celebrate May crowning
DETROIT — Old St. Mary’s Parish took advantage of the immaculate weather May 2 to honor the Immaculate Mother with a procession in her honor through Greektown.
Following a noon Mass, Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron led a Eucharistic procession with parishioners carrying a statue of Mary through the historic downtown Detroit district. Younger parishioners handed out roses as the community prayed the rosary.
The procession was co-organized by the parish and the World Apostolate of Fatima, which operates the newly named Our Lady of Fatima Shrine in Riverview.
“We have not done a Eucharistic procession every single May, but we’ve always have a May crowning,” said Michelle Pierron, president of the Old St. Mary’s parish council and a lifelong parishioner.
“Throughout May we honor Mary by saying a rosary every Sunday after the last Mass and weekday Masses,” Pierron continued. “Obviously, this church is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary; we are a Marian church.”
Pierron said her family traces its Old St. Mary’s roots back to the 1840s. The parish was established in 1834 and has been a bedrock in the neighborhood ever since — but it’s still a welcome surprise to see the parish carry out its occasional processions.
“When we first started doing these processions, it would really cause people to stop in their tracks,” Pierron said. “Clearly, many people did not know what the significance of this group or people carrying a statue and monstrance was. It was not unusual for people to just pause and look and even sometimes drop to their knees. I would venture to say they weren’t all necessarily Catholic, but they could tell something significant was going on.”
The Mass and May crowning marks the beginning of May, the month of Mary, the first disciple. Archbishop Vigneron used his homily to describe Mary as the first branch from Jesus to bear fruit, bearing the Son of God when she said ‘yes,’ during the Annunciation.
“On this day, we celebrate the May crowning and the procession out in public, honoring the Virgin Mary,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “We think of her in light of the Gospel, being the very best branch, grafted onto the vine of Jesus Christ.”
As the best branch from the vine of Jesus, Mary shows what it means to accept the difficulties, the “pruning,” as Archbishop Vigneron called it, during life’s tribulations.
“Our Lady is still tapping into the vine that is the Church. She obtains for us the strength we need to be fruitful vines,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “She is for us the great inspiration. Think about how she bore the very greatest fruit, her son, God Incarnate, as a virgin. What the world counted as sterile and useless, by the power of God, was made the greatest fruit.”
The archbishop finished his homily by reading a letter from a woman whose family accompanied him on a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, in 2018.
The woman described how, after returning home from Lourdes, her sight was completely restored, and she was on the path to good health. However, it was discovered the same cancer that caused her loss of sight was now in her 8-year-old son.
In describing the hospital visits, surgeries and a “refrigerator full of medications,” the woman wrote to the archbishop of her appreciation of the suffering Our Lady went through and how even amidst that suffering, God did not abandon her.
“I have a great appreciation for what Our Lady suffered on the day of salvation,” the archbishop read to the congregation. “Watching a child suffer in this way would be incomprehensible without the eyes of faith. I’m thankful for my own path of illness and suffering, as it has given me patience and a strong faith that I couldn’t have obtained any other way. There is much to learn in the shadow of the cross. I’m thankful for my healing at Lourdes, without which I might not be here with my husband and my children.
“Our little boy continues to be evaluated for a rare type of disease and immune system malformations similar to my cross,” the letter continued. “He now has his own stash of medicine in the fridge, his own path of suffering. Throughout it all, we have watched his faith transform and strengthen.”
“Eight years old,” Archbishop Vigneron commented. “This fruit of faith. Praise God.”
“Throughout it all, we watched his faith be strengthened, cultivated by his reception of the Eucharist and Our Lady,” the letter continued. “We have watched him carry his cross with grace and confidence. Through all of our trials and sufferings, God walks with us, sustains us and guides us. Where there is great evil, there is always great grace. Please continue to pray for our families and my little boy, that God will bless his doctors with wisdom and understanding.”
“This is an example of what our Lord means by bearing much good fruit,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “That’s what it means to be grafted onto the Lord Jesus. Whatever happens in our lives, we (must) imitate the Lord Jesus, his abandonment to His Father. This is our witness about what we know about what life really means.”
The Sunday Mass at Old St. Mary’s was also the debut of Fr. John Owusu, CSSp., the parish’s new pastor. A former associate at Old St. Mary’s from 2009-11, Fr. Owusu was pastor of St. Ambrose Parish in Chicago in his previous assignment.
“I would like to thank Archbishop Vigneron for celebrating this Eucharistic feast,” Fr. Owusu told the congregation after Mass and the procession. “I give thanks to the organizers for this celebration, the priests, the servers, ushers and volunteers.”
Fr. Owusu, in his Ghanaian accent, said he hopes to continue the spirituality for which Old St. Mary’s has become known.
“I’m very glad to be back to serve as pastor of Old St. Mary’s,” Fr. Owusu said. “I hope to continue the work of Frs. (Wayne) Epperley and (Edward) Vilkauskas (Old St. Mary’s two late former pastors). I know of their works, their spirituality. I promise to do my best to serve with patience and listening. Let us work together to build the kingdom of God.”
