Sunday 13th May 2007
A celebratory procession some ninety years after the initial appearance
of The Virgin on 13th May 1917
Paul McLaughlin writes :
Welcome to the 2007 St Joseph’s Procession in honour of Our Lady of Fatima.
And today’s event marks the 90th anniversary of the Blessed Virgin’s appearance
at
the holy shrine.
Traditionally, this is the day when St Joseph’s Parish shows off its devotion to
its faith
in the most colourful and continental of ways. In ways, unseen across this city,
the May Procession brings a touch of Seville to the drabness of the industrial
dockland that was the envy of other parishes in years gone past and, today,
continues to demonstrate the commitment of its people to the Blessed Virgin and
to their beloved church. Sailortown people, who have grown up with the flowers
and fervour of this day, have golden memories, stretching back more
than 50 years. They speak of a day of celebration, a day of community
togetherness and a day
of wonder.
So, today we celebrate the wonders of Our Lady of Fatima and the wonderment of
our faith.
A great hurt was caused to the people of our church when it was closed, without
consultation, more
than six years ago, but, thank God, it has galvanised us into one of the most
vibrant faith communities, of any denomination, in this country. We are a people
with right on our side, a community of Sailortown people and newer arrivals who
have one thing in common - we love this holy place and want what is best for it.
Hopes for the future of our church, because it is ours, have been encouraged
with the housing development about to take place in the district and it will be
interesting to see how the Diocese, which said it closed St Joseph’s because
no-one lived in
the area, reacts to this dramatic change in circumstances. Bishop Walsh is on
record, saying
that the closure of St Joseph’s would be reviewed if such a development were to
take place.
We call on him today to honour his word and begin such a review without delay.
We see today’s procession as yet another small step on the long road to the
re-opening of our church and as a very important part of the healing process in
dockland. We will march through the docks with our heads held high, knowing that
the rest of this city is seeing a proud faith community
wearing its love for this church on its sleeve.
This will be a day of mixed emotions for many. We will, of course, be happy to
be together and to have the health and determination to carry on a tradition
that has been
gifted to us by those who have gone before, but there will be sadness as well as
we gather outside the locked doors of our church. But, only love, devotion and
commitment will remain in
focus when the music starts and the first words of the Rosary ring out across
the dock. We have issued an open invitation to the people of Belfast and beyond
to share this day with us and we welcome all who chose to attend. In particular,
we would like to welcome Fr Des for this, his seventh procession. We thank Fr
Des for his continued spiritual leadership and offer our
Procession as a prayer of hope, devotion and reconciliation that is a
outreaching welcome to all. Our special thanks go also to the Camlough Silver
Band, the pipes and drums of Piobari Uladh and the Belfast Harbour Commissioners
for facilitating this event once again and we pray specially today for our
friends in Manchester, Liverpool and Drumaroad that the
Blessed Virgin will intercede on their behalf.
A procession of recent memories
Shortly after the formation of The Sailortown Cultural and Historical Society in October 1999 it was decide to organise a series of community
events by way of celebrating the district as we went into anew millennium.
“Sailortown 2000- a cultural celebration “became a weekend of activities culminating on Sunday 14th May 2000 with a re-enactment of the traditional May procession from St Joseph’s Church in Sailortown in honour of Our Lady of Fatima. At that stage the organisers had viewed the procession as a one off event for the millennium.
The original procession had commenced around 1954 and continued each year until the late 1960s when Sailortown was flattened to make way for “the ring road”. I suspect that in those days the organisation of it all ran like clockwork or did it? Was it just a case of see the parish priest, pick the date in May, a nod and a wink from the Harbour police, away you go and pray for good weather? Simple stuff we thought no bother at all to a determined bunch of Sailortown people.
The new millennium must have brought with a load of red tape. Firstly we had to seek approval from The Parades Commission and complete the relevant forms and submit them to police at Musgrave St Station. Next we had to get the approval of The Belfast Harbour Commissioners for right of access to the Harbour Estate which required meeting with them and The Laganside Corporation. The planned route was put in writing and permission granted subject to certain provisos with regard to health and safety as well as insurance. A few months previously we had got agreement in principle from David White the Administrator at St Patrick’s about the procession and we met with him a few days beforehand to finalise arrangements. We had original statue of Our Lady from the 1950s but no plinth on which to support and carry it and we didn’t have a band but with God, St Joseph and The Rev. White on our side we knew we would get there in the end. (Of course this was all before St Joseph’s closed). It’s said that you should never underestimate the power of prayer so we prayed and we had a plinth made and we managed to get a brass band from Camloch Co Armagh. All that was needed now was fair weather and a lot of luck so we prayed again just in case. Then there were all the other bits and pieces such as flowers, sashes gloves, first aid cover, organising the carrying of the statue, stewarding, refreshments afterwards etc. etc.
However, Sunday arrived the weather was fine, St Joseph’s was packed, the band showed up on time and it all went smoothly. I remember breathing a sigh of relief that it had gone well. Someone asked me about the procession and I said that I was too caught up in it to appreciate it but that I was glad that we had done it. As far as I was concerned that was it- a one off re-enactment of a little piece of Sailortown life for the new millennium. How wrong I was, St Joseph’s closed in February 2001 and for me everything was changed. We were on our own locked out of our own chapel by those ordained to provide us with spiritual and pastoral care. Since then we have continued to organise the annual May procession from the steps of the church with the continued support of Fr Des Wilson and the good people of St Joseph’s.
So here we are in May 2005 all ready to go again for our sixth procession of this new millennium. The organisation of the procession is down to a group of dedicated people who each in their own way help to make it all happen on the day. For them it is about faith, it is about tradition, it is about prayer and it is about people coming together for a common purpose. Their generosity of spirit goes along way and our thanks goes out to them.
Gerry Gallagher