The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Catholics celebrate McGivney’s beatification
NEW HAVEN — The bells of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church rang out and the faithful kneeled in silence as a portrait of the Rev. Michael McGivney slowly unfurled on the edifice of the Gothic church Saturday.
The faithful from around the country gathered to celebrate the beatification of McGivney, who founded the Knights of Columbus in New Haven.
“It’s extraordinarily moving,” said the Rev. Patrick Briscoe, the associate chaplain at Providence College. “I’m just so overcome by all the graces. It’s an incredible
moment to participate in. It’s a homecoming. It’s the sort of thing that just brings you to tears.”
McGivney, who became an assistant priest at St. Mary’s in 1877, founded the Knights in 1882 in order to promote faith, charity and civic virtue among Catholic men.
McGivney’s tomb is in the rear of St. Mary, which is undergoing renovation and is closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Pope Francis announced Wednesday that he recognized a 2015 miracle attributed to McGivney’s intercession, beatifying him. A second miracle is required to elevate McGivney to sainthood.
The miracle attributed to McGivney was the healing of a fetus that had “a condition totally incompatible with life,” said Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, CEO of the Knights of Columbus. “The child was born and the condition was no longer there.”
With beatification, McGivney is called “blessed.”
The faithful viewed the Mass of Beatification, live streamed from the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford, on large screens inside and outside St. Mary’s Church.
Following the reading of the official beatification proclamation from Pope Francis, read by Cardinal Joseph Tobin of New Jersey, the portrait was unfurled, followed by a procession into St. Mary’s.
A relic, a part of McGivney’s spine, was carried into the church and placed at the altar. The relic is encased in a glass and gold vessel.
Throughout the ceremony, members of the Knights of Columbus honor guard were posted in front of the venerable relic and McGivney’s sarcophagus “as a sign of respect,” said Scott Criscuolo, co-district marshal for the Connecticut District 4th Degree Knights of Columbus.
“His faith for those that were struggling in the late 1800s carries on today,” he said. “In our organization we help people. We help everyone in our church and in community that need it, the homeless and veterans and it’s his legacy that keeps us going.”
Briscoe explained why the relic was important.
“Since the earliest days, the Christian community gathered in the catacombs to pray on the bones of the dead, so in the Catholic community we carry on that custom by continuing to pray with the mortal remains of our blessed and our saints,” Briscoe explained.
Once inside the church many proceeded to the altar, kneeled and prayed in front of the relic.
Face masks and social distancing were strictly adhered to during the ceremony, with a limited number of guests welcome.
While McGivney’s beatification comes during the coronavirus pandemic, he died of pneumonia during the Russian flu pandemic of 1889-90, at 38 years old.
Briscoe was introspective as he talked about McGivney and his connection to the local parish.
“Sometimes the saints, they feel so far from us, but Father McGivney is a Connecticut native and served here at St. Mary’s parish,” he said. “It’s an incredible thing.”
The faithful who came to be a part of the celebration were equally moved.
“We have a strong devotion to Father Michael McGivney,” said Josh Becker, a St. Mary’s parishioner who attended with his wife and children. “It developed over years going to St. Mary’s.”
Mary Margaret Schroeder, a parishioner, Yale student and volunteer at the event, said participating was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
“I kept hearing about Father McGivney at homilies and he seems like an incredible person,” the 18-year-old said. “I’ve been doing some research on him, so it’s so great to be able to celebrate him today.”
Schroeder said she could feel the excitement in the air.
“It’s definitely really inspiring, just knowing that he’s from right here, in Connecticut, and he was just doing whatever he could to make a difference,” she said. “It’s inspiring to just know his story and know that he was just trying to do as small of a job that he could with the greatest amount of love, just to make people feel good.”
Parishioner Sandra Romero, standing outside, said “it feels like being in heaven, a little bit.”
“Just looking at the entrance, the first thing we see is a poster with a picture of Father McGivney and it’s like he’s welcoming everybody,” she said. “Everyone is just so excited.
“For many years I have been coming, but I think today is very, very special because it’s not only here on earth, but in heaven, that Father McGivney is being given a special place,” she added. “He’s going to intercede for all our intentions, in a close and special way in Heaven and we feel that. I feel that is real and today is a different day than yesterday.”