Don Bosco's Relics Tour, Take Two: Stony Point

Archbishop Dolan and Fr. Steve Ryan at the Marian Shrine with the Relic of Don Bosco today
(Photo by Mary Kate Havranek)

I packed the monks into the Hyundai this morning around 9:15 and headed north up the Garden State to get to the Marian Shrine for the youth rally and Mass with Archbishop Dolan.  The trip was fraught with delays due to the rain and construction on 78.  When we did get to the Parkway the traffic was only a little better through the Newark exits, with the rain going from a drizzle to a deluge then back to a drizzle the whole way.  After almost and hour and a half we got to the Shrine and I had to negotiate with a fireman over where to park.   After a brief misunderstanding he let me park a lot closer than I expected.  I must say I felt up, despite the rain and the uncertainty over where this Mass would be, since it was obvious that doing it out doors was not going to happen.

There were students from Salesian High, Don Bosco Prep as well as a slew of other schools present, and various pilgrims from far and wide.  My guess is there were in the neighborhood of two thousand people, but I'm not good with estimating these things.

I ran into a few teachers from New Rochelle, and then a ton of students over the course of  the day.  It's only a few months, but I didn't realize how much I miss the Salesian High Boys.  I'm happy here in Elizabeth, to be sure, but it was the first time, seeing the teachers and students, that I felt a bit nostalgic. It was a blessing to get to work with and for them the past three years.  One of the many blessings I've received as a Salesian.

I found my way to Fr.  Lamagna Hall, where priests usually vest for Mass and found the Archbishop holding court amidst the priests gathered.  Fr. Jim Mulloy, the pride of Merrillville, Indiana, let me know that Mass was canceled and that they'd bring the various school groups into the new church in shifts to venerate the relic and hear the Archbishop speak.  

Archbishop Dolan was great, as usual.  He was very enthusiastic in a way that can't be faked.  This is the second time I've seen him with a gathering of young people, and he just has a natural way with them.  He tells it straight, but always with a positive, life affirming message.  He challenged us, young and not so young alike, to "dare to dream" and to put God at the center of our lives.  He spoke of his devotion to Don Bosco, that goes back to his grade school days in the 1950's and his teacher Sr. Mary Bosco, who was actually present at the event.


After we exited to allow the next shift into the church, there was more reminiscing with old friends and then I gathered the monks back and we retreated to a local diner for a quick bite in a dry place before heading back to New Jersey.
 

Obviously it was disappointing that the Mass had to be canceled, but the rain was something beyond any one's control.  Logistically, we (the Salesian Province) simply don't have an indoor space big enough to move an event like this in case the weather doesn't cooperate.  Three years ago it was the heat when the Rector Major visited, this time around it was the rain.  At this point I have no great pearl of wisdom to offer, other than this was promoted as a pilgrimage, and it is in that spirit it should be taken.  Pilgrimages involve sacrifice and a certain amount of inconvenience to be put up with by the traveler making the journey.  They aren't meant to be pleasure trips, or in this case an entertainment event.  In light of all this I think the organizers did what they could to make lemonade from the lemons they got, visa vi the weather.

So, these are my first raw impressions of the Relic Tour.  More on the Cathedral leg of the tour and a more thought out reflection in the days to come.