File/Blessing of the Sea in Longport, Aug. 15, 2019.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
LONGPORT A longstanding Catholic tradition will go on this year with a new twist. Instead of holding a Mass at Holy Trinity Parish's Church of the Epiphany, Mass celebrating the Feast of the Assumption, which Catholics believe is the day Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus Christ, ascended into heaven, will be held Aug. 15 on the 29th Avenue beach.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional procession from the church to the beach, which included recitation of the Lord's Prayer and singing the Ave Maria, will not be held. Instead, parishioners and visitors are asked to gather on the beach for a 10 a.m. Mass.
The annual event attracts nearly 100 worshipers who gather at the foot of the waves to collect blessed sea water in little bottles to pass blessings onto loved ones, pets and those who are suffering.
Some visitors plan their vacations around the ceremony, such as Anne Hennessy, of Rosemont, Pa., who at age 95 attended her 12th Blessing of the Sea last year.
It's a beautiful Catholic tradition, she said. I come for the blessings. I bring water back for the sick, she said last year. Hennesy said the pilgrimage is a longstanding family tradition.
My grandmother used to come. It was the only time she would ever go into the ocean, she said.
Also at last year's event was Miriam Brusco, then 83, of Ventnor, who attends every year.
The Blessed Mother means everything to me, Brusco said. She helps me all the time. If I can't get my earrings on, I say a Hail Mary, and she helps me get them on. And after numerous back surgeries, I say a Hail Mary and she helps me climb the steps.
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Also changed this year is the Blessing of the Sea which follows the Mass and procession. In past years, members of the Longport Beach Patrol escorted Pastor Pawel Kryszkiewicz in a surf boat out past the waves, where a wreath honoring lives lost at sea is tossed into the ocean. This year, to maintain social distancing, lifeguards will row out alone and toss the wreath, which will be blessed by the priest.
In 1950, Pope Pius XII declared the Assumption of Mary as dogma in the church's belief that after her time on Earth, the Virgin was assumed into heaven body and soul.
In a normal year, parishioners gather at Totaro Hall after the event, but that will not be held this year.
Attendees are asked to bring their own beach chairs to the beach.
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