Rome, Italy, Aug 3, 2017 / 12:02 am (CNA).- Every August, for the feast of the Madonna of the Sea, Italian priest Father Mario Calogiuri takes to the beach of San Foca to bless swimmers and seafarers "between the deckchairs and umbrellas" in a blue swimsuit, according to Italian source La Repubblica.
But this year, he decided to go a more memorable route.
Rather than just a bible or a rosary, Fr. Calogiuri came to the beach with a five-foot statue of the Virgin Mary in tow.
Mary was then hoisted to the top of the slide of a small plastic paddle boat and taken out to sea.
Two volunteers were needed helped to stabilize the Virgin atop the little plastic vessel, which rocked among small waves as it floated among the swimmers and Father issued blessings via megaphone to a small crowd.
Typically, the feast of the Madonna of the Sea is celebrated in port towns, and is a time for blessing sailors and fishermen, who pray for safety and a profitable year.
In recent years, Fr. Calogiuri has more liberally applied the feast to beachgoers of all kinds.
In 2013, he told Italian news source Urban News that it can be easy to forget about Jesus at the beach, so that’s why he has taken to blessing swimmers and revelers.
"I want to meet people under the umbrella...in a place where you do not usually think about religion, but you do not have to forget Jesus," he said.
An Italian priest brought the Virgin Mary to festival beachgoers in a paddle boat https://t.co/JRB3DwbNJx pic.twitter.com/C2ggiCbDCs
— Atlas Obscura (@atlasobscura) August 1, 2017
Article Archive
The Virgin Mary on a paddle boat? One priest's beach blessing
Related Articles • More Articles
Father Leo Riley, age 68, continued to serve as a priest for years after a 2020 sexual abuse lawsuit was filed against him and the Diocese of Venice in Florida. / Credit: Charlotte County Sheriff's OfficeCNA Staff, Apr 27, 2024 / 19:18 pm (CNA).A Florida priest who was recently arrested on sex abuse charges was permitted to continue in active ministry for nearly three years after a civil sex abuse lawsuit was filed against him and the diocese in which he serves.Father Leo Riley, age 68, continued to serve as a priest for years after a 2020 sexual abuse lawsuit was filed against him and the Diocese of Venice in Florida. The matter came to the forefront this week after Riley was arrested on several sex abuse charges dating back to his time serving as a priest in Iowa decades ago. The Charlotte County, Florida Sheriff's Office said in a press release that deputies arrested Riley in Port Charlotte on April 24 "on multiple counts of capital sexual battery stemmin...
Facade of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia. / Credit: Wikimedia Commons / EEJCCACI Prensa Staff, Apr 27, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).One year after the Spanish newspaper El País published the report "Diary of a Pedophile Priest," which recounted the sexual abuse of minors committed in Bolivia by the deceased Jesuit priest Alfonso Pedrajas, journalists from ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, went to the South American country to look into the political implications of the case, how the scandal has affected the Church's image in Bolivia, and the response of the civil justice system.Pedrajas, better known as "Padre Pica," arrived in South America in the early 1960s as part of his formation process with the Jesuits. For 10 years he lived in Peru and Ecuador, where he allegedly committed his first abuses while still a seminarian, and in 1971 he settled permanently in Bolivia.There the Society of Jesus appointed him assistant principal of the John XXIII Insti...
The members of the general board of directors of the Regnum Christi Federation, before its first general convention from April 29 to May 4, 2024, in Rome. / Credit: Regnum ChristiACI Prensa Staff, Apr 27, 2024 / 09:00 am (CNA).The Regnum Christi Federation will hold its first general convention in Rome from April 29 to May 4, the first such assembly since its statutes were approved in 2019 after a long process of listening, purification, and a hopeful look toward its future.The ecclesial movement was shaken to the core by the revelation of numerous cases of sexual abuse and abuses of power primarily involving Father Marcial Maciel, the deceased founder of the Legionaries of Christ and the Regnum Christi movement.The Regnum Christi Federation is comprised of four vocations: the Legionaries of Christ (priests), Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi, Lay Consecrated Men of Regnum Christi, and lay members.Regnum Christi is now defined as an apostolic body and spiritual family led by ...