From last years news reports: The devotion of St. Rosalie in Kenner Louisiana

St. Rosalie procession continues 114-year Kenner tradition

Credit: Dominic Massa

Volunteers, including Kenner Mayor Mike Yenni (right), take turns carrying the large statue of St. Rosalie.              

 

 

 

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wwltv.com

Posted on September 9, 2012 at 9:10 PM

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KENNER, La. – Continuing a tradition more than 114 years old, Italian-Americans and parishioners of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church walked the streets of old Kenner Sunday, venerating St. Rosalie.

She is the patron saint of Kenner and of Palermo, Sicily, the homeland of many of the Italian immigrants who settled in Kenner at the turn of the century.

 

Dozens of people walked the three-mile route through the oldest part of Kenner, in the shadow of the large statue of St. Rosalie, carried on the shoulders of volunteers, including Kenner  Mayor Mike Yenni, Councilmen Joe Stagni and Kent Denapolis and others.

 

This year the procession was moved to later in the evening, starting at 6 p.m., as opposed to previous years when participants braved the late summer heat to take part.

 

The procession, complete with a traditional brass ensemble, included the recitation of the rosary and other prayers by Rev. Richard Miles, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church. 

 

It followed an afternoon Mass at the church, celebrated by Archbishop Gregory Aymond, who also walked the processional route.

 

Believers pray to St. Rosalie, inspired by the stories of her miraculous intercession during an anthrax attack in Kenner in the late 1800s, which threatened the city’s agricultural base, including livestock and crops.

 

The St. Rosalie Society, organized by many Italian-Americans whose parents and grandparents walked the same route generations ago, follows the tradition in Sicily of carrying the saint’s likeness through the streets as a way to say “thanks” and to honor her.