Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
After an enormously successful move from Berwyn to Niles two years ago, the Feast of Maria SS. Lauretana has much to be proud of as it looks forward to its third year in the near north suburb.
“(The city of Niles) has welcomed us with open arms, and they have given us all the cooperation and respect in the world,” says Joe Camarda, president of Congregazione Maria SS. Lauretana di Altavilla Milicia in Chicago. “It has been going beautifully, and we haven’t seen a turnout like we’ve had in a long time.”
Camarda also offered his undying gratitude to the city of Berwyn, which hosted the feast for 40 years. “When we had no other place to go, they took us in and treated us like family,” he says. “They will always have a special place in our hearts.”
The feast will once again be celebrated on Church Street between Greenwood and Cumberland in Niles, on the south side of the Golf Mill Shopping Center.
Festivities culminate on Sept. 3 with a procession at 9 a.m. and Mass at 10:30 a.m., followed by processions with the Sicilian Band of Chicago leading up to the traditional Flight of the Angels.
A street festival with live entertainment will run from Sept. 1 to 4, and a Novena will run from Aug. 24 at the society’s chapel in Chicago, with the final day of the Novena being celebrated on Sept. 1 at the feast. (773-736-3766)
