Exciting Changes Coming to the Procession!

If you’ve ever participated in our Feast Day celebration, you know what to expect—Mass, a Procession around the church, praying the rosary during the Procession, and Benediction at the end of it all. This year, we’re making some drastic, but exciting changes. Here’s everything you need to know:

WHY CHANGE IT?

Last year, we discovered that the Bazaar and Feast were two separate events. The Bazaar was always a fundraiser and started in the 1930s. The Feast was a Catholic-Italian celebration in honor of our patronal feast day and started a mere four months after the church was founded in 1894. Sometime in the 1960s, they were combined.

In the past decade or so, participation and overall interest in the Feast–that is, the Mass & Procession–have sharply declined. In an effort to revive it, we’re taking it back to the early days of our church and leaning into our Italian heritage!

WHAT ARE THE CHANGES?

Glad you asked! Here’s a rundown:

• Feast Band: In Italy and Italian America, every feast day celebration has a band consisting mainly of brass and percussion. The band is not there to entertain, but rather to escort the statue of Our Lady with music specific to the feast. You won’t hear “Eye of the Tiger” or any kind of fight song here. Instead, you will hear symphonic marches (a fusion of classical symphony and marching music) specially commissioned long ago for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Songs like “La Banda Nascente,” “Evviva Maria,” and “Noi Vogliam Dio”—the likes of which haven’t been heard for decades—will once again echo through the streets of North Denver. While Italian Feast Bands no longer exist in Denver, the Denver Broncos Stampede will perform.

• A New Route: Typically, we walk a couple blocks around the church, staying in the side streets. This year, we’re expanding the route and going to W 38th Avenue, one of the area’s main thoroughfares. North Denver will KNOW the Italians are honoring la Madonna del Carmine.

• Italian Mass: The 2:30pm Mass in honor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel will be in Italian this year. There will be a pamphlet available with the English translation so everyone can follow along! The Servite Provincial, Rev. Eugene Smith, will celebrate.

HOW DO I PARTICIPATE?

Excellent question! Here is the line-up order:

1. Cross & Candle Bearers

2. Flag Bearers

3. Knights of Columbus

4. Priests, nuns, religious

5. Our Lady of Mount Carmel Statue

6. Band

7. Parish Organizations

8. Other Organizations

9. The Faithful

If you’re part of a parish organization (Altar & Rosary Society, Men’s Club, etc.) or other Italian organization NOT affiliated with the parish, it’s recommended you walk together with your group. If you’re not part of any group or unsure of where to be, please join the Faithful!

WHAT HAPPENS?

The Procession will begin after Mass. Please allow the altar servers and priests to recess down the aisle before exiting the church. Once they have left and the recessional hymn is complete, please exit the church quietly and promptly. PLEASE KEEP THE AISLES, VESTIBULE, DOORS, STAIRS, AND LANDINGS CLEAR for our flag and statue bearers.

It will take some time for the Procession to form outside. After the statue is in place, everyone else may take their places. The band will play for the entirety of the procession.

The Procession will take the following route: North on Navajo St. to 38th Ave. West on 38th Ave. to Osage. South on Osage to 36th Ave. East on 36th Ave. to the church’s north entrance.

At the end of the Procession, participants enter the church through the side entrance and get ready for Benediction. The ceremony is officially ended after Benediction.

Thank you for your patience! We hope this will rekindle a passion for our Catholic-Italian traditions and reinvigorate Italian North Denver! A presto!