Solemn Mass at Holy Face Monastery in Clifton, NJ

For the first time since Vatican II, on Saturday, June 4, 2016, at 11:30 a.m., at Holy Face Monastery, 1697 Route 3, Clifton, New Jersey, there will be celebrated a Solemn High Mass with Gregorian chant in honor of Our Lady of Sacro Monte of Novi Velia, Salerno at her shrine. Following Mass there will be a grand procession on the monastery grounds with the statue of Our Lady, her canopy and authentic cinte (Italian candle-houses), all accompanied by the Tony Neglia Italian Feast Band.

The miraculous image of Our Lady of Sacro Monte of Novi Velia, crowned by pontifical decree in 1889, rests atop Mount Gelbison in the town of Novi Velia in the Cilento region of the Province of Salerno, Italy.

Love for the Madonna of Sacro Monte was carried to the United States by Cilentano immigrants who arrived in the United States at the turn of the last century. In Jersey City, where many of them settled, an annual devotion was started. In the late 1960s the devotees from Jersey City moved their celebration to Holy Face Monastery in Clifton, New Jersey. At the Monastery they constructed a stunning outdoor shrine to the Madonna and brought a small statue for veneration.

The annual celebration at Holy Face Monastery ended in 1980. It was revived in 2012 by Cilentani and their descendants in New Jersey.

Musical entertainment will begin at 10:30 a.m. with a performance of the Bloomfield Mandolin Orchestra, followed after Mass by the Tony Neglia Italian Feast Band, Italian American singing sensation Maestro Marcantonio Pezzano, and DJ Stefano. Delicious meals and desserts will be sold throughout the day and there will be activities for young and old to enjoy. For more information about this grande festa, you can contact us at info @ madonnadelsacromonteusa.com (remove the spaces when addressing your message) or call Pat at (201) 658-0775.