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An Easter Message from Fr. Fragomeni

Join with us. Find hope with us.

Thank God with us, as I thank God for you.

Since Lent is a time of reflection, I want to ask you to think about your favorite Easter memory. Was it waking up on Easter morning to see if the Easter Bunny left you any treats? Or was it sitting down for Easter brunch and having the homemade Easter bread that your ma would make (why we only had it at Easter is something I never understood!).

I will share with you one of my favorite Easter memories. It was two years ago on Easter – Mass at the Shrine. Why is it this memory that I share with you? Because that was the last time we held our traditional Easter Service.

I remember pews full of people, the inside decorated and sparkling, music and voices filling our rafters. I remember Frank Rappa giving the sign of peace to everyone possible. I remember having eucharistic ministers serving and looking out and seeing smiles because we did not have to wear masks.

Last year, if you recall, our state was on lockdown and we could not hold Mass. We videotaped the Easter Services in advance and put them on YouTube (yes, we even started a Shrine YouTube channel).

A lot has changed over the year, but one thing has stayed consistent – the support of our Shrine family. Through your generosity, we have been able to weather the pandemic financially and allow our Shrine doors to remain open and our programming to continue (via Zoom!).

During this past year, we have all learned how to do things differently. At the Shrine, we learned to adjust our fundraising endeavors since we are unable to gather in groups, and we also learned how to stay connected on Sundays with live-streaming Masses. And with the temporary shutdown of Sunday Mass, so many of you have adjusted by donating online. Prior to the pandemic, only 15% of the donations for the Sunday collection were received online; today, 33% originate from online giving.

While things are looking up, and we are seeing a path out of this pandemic, we continue to need your support for our Shrine. Your financial support is our way of existing. I am also asking you to help us enlarge our Shrine family and think of ways to introduce the Shrine to someone you know. Growth is our future.

As we approach this Easter, our Shrine will sparkle once again. We will be a little more spaced out in the pews but I’ll be able to see your smiles, beaming from your eyes. And if you can’t join us, I’ll wave to you on Facebook live. Until we can all be together again in our Shrine family tradition, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your continued generosity and for allowing our Shrine to keep… Shining On!

With a grateful heart, Buona Pasqua!

Fr. Richard N. Fragomeni, PhD, Rector, The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii

PS: Please email us your special intentions, so that we might remember them in our liturgies. Visit us during this season of hope for Sunday Mass – Reserve a seat here or join us via Livestream for the 11 a.m. Sunday Mass on our Facebook page, Our Lady of Pompeii Shrine.

PSS: Your every gift is a gift of hope. Please click here if you wish to make an Easter Appeal donation. And for your gift of $500 or more, receive an Engraved Memorial Paver to be installed in our Garden of Remembrance. Marcia Piemonte will contact you about details.