By Kathy-Ann Gobin
DANBURY—Perseverance as exemplified by San Gennaro was the message at Mass that kicked off the fifth annual San Gennaro Festival with Bishop Frank J. Caggiano at St. Peter Church.
“You and I are not strangers to this virtue of perseverance, because it is part of the fabric of our life. One cannot seek a life of purpose and success without nurturing a true spirit of perseverance,” said Bishop Caggiano, noting that throughout life people experience perseverance when they are steadfast and committed to achieve a goal or through suffering or illness.
“Perseverance is part of ordinary life,” Bishop Caggiano said. “It is also a part of the fabric of our discipleship. For you and I cannot claim to follow the footsteps of the Lord and Savior, if we are not committed to persevere, despite the challenges and difficulties we may face.”
The festival of San Gennaro celebrates the martyred saint, the Bishop of Benevento, Italy, who was persecuted for his unwavering faith to Christ in 305 AD. San Gennaro is said to have been thrown to bears that refused to touch him and was then beheaded.
“There is no greater goal in life, than to seek to be with Christ forever,” said Bishop Caggiano adding, “Christ has prepared a place for each of us, to live in glory and perfect joy and perfect love for all eternity. That’s the goal of discipleship.”
Bishop Caggiano said it is important to do whatever is required to walk in the path that will lead to Christ.
“San Gennaro persevered to the end,” said Bishop Caggiano, noting that on the feast day of his death, September 19th, the saint’s blood that was gathered on his death and is kept at Naples Cathedral, liquifies as a sign that he is still present to help people persevere.
Bishop Caggiano asked those gathered to ask themselves if they are ready to persevere through this life, to get to Heaven.
“Life will give us a thousand reasons why perhaps we shouldn’t but today, we know there’s only one reason why we should, His name is Jesus Christ,” said Bishop Caggiano, noting that Jesus gave his life “because his goal was to love his father and to love you and me.”
“There’s one thing that unites us in his church today, is that we don’t persevere alone,” Bishop Caggiano said. “We have the Lord with us, in his power and grace, to ask for his help every day. Together, we will do what the Lord asks.”
“Let us pray to San Gennaro that his persevering spirit, his courage, his devotion, will inspire us. And we ask that he pray for us from his place in heaven, because when the day will come, please God, for he will be among the first to take us by the hand and lead us to that place made for you and me in that same glory of God.”
Following the Mass, a procession with the statue of San Gennaro was led down Main Street with a police escort and trailed by fire trucks.
“I can’t wait to be a part of it,” parishioner Carol Fay said, as she and her husband, Craig, watched a 9-piece band assembled in front of the lead car with Bishop Caggiano and Grand Marshall Tony Rizzo. They were followed by men carrying the San Gennaro statue as the faithful walked behind them to White Street and then the City Center Green.
“I like the history behind it,” Carol Fay said. “The saint persevered and we should too.”
She said it was the first festival procession that she and her husband participated in.
“The procession is like an old-time thing,” she said. “Our parents would be very happy we are doing this. We used to go to the one on Arthur Avenue in New York but now that Danbury has one we don’t have to go as far.”
Once at the City Green, the Bishop addressed the crowd with opening remarks and a prayer.
“May the weather be good. The company be better. The food nourish us, the conversation give strength to our soul, and may your spirit always accompany, guide and bless us, so that we may grow closer to one another in love, and model for a broken world, what a community united can do and celebrate together,” Bishop Caggiano said.
“This tradition, that is Southern Italian really has come to Danbury and united people in every culture and language to celebrate this unique and wonderful city that all of us form together,” said Bishop Caggiano, who thanked the Galante and Rizzo families for persevering to reestablish this festival in the city. “Enjoy the great festivity, good food and good company. Create some great memories that we will carry with us in our lives.”
Tony Rizzo, a third-generation Italian immigrant and graduate of Henry Abbott Technical High School, has been the head of Rizzo companies in Danbury since 1992.
“I just want to say it’s an honor to be here before everybody. I was telling our bishop what a special city Danbury is. Danbury is a city of diversification, and yet, everybody comes together. We have different politics, different religious beliefs, but we’re all one city, and I believe our city is the best city in the greatest country in the world,” said Rizzo, who was presented with state and local recognition awards.
“When you look around out here, and you see how everybody gets along, and how everybody mingles together, it’s an example for not only the rest of our state, but for the rest of the country, to see how we do it here in Danbury,” Rizzo said.
“Thank you very much for the honor. I’m really humbled,” Rizzo said. “I don’t see myself as doing anything special other than doing what I’m asked to do by the man up above.”
