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Winter coats, hats, scarves and gloves accessorized the wearing of the green on March 17 as the thermometer dipped to 25 degrees during the 253rd St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
There was much to behold, as the parade’s patrons and participants alike braved the cold. Whether or not they were Irish themselves, old and young made it clear they were there to cheer on the official line of march, which included Irish dancers, bagpipers and an assortment of associations, societies and social clubs; New York’s Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral; schools, universities, marching bands and battalions, as well as a multitude of men and women in uniform who represented the armed forces, police and firefighters.
Cardinal Dolan donned a sporty cap and coat himself as he reviewed the parade below the front steps of St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue at 50th Street.
He had served as principal celebrant at the 8:30 a.m. Mass for the Solemnity of St. Patrick. Father Matthew Malone, S.J., editor in chief of America magazine in Manhattan, delivered the homily.
“A blessed St. Patrick’s Day, everybody,” the cardinal said in greeting the Mass-goers. Among the dignitaries in attendance were Ireland’s Prime Minister, Enda Kenny; Consul General of Ireland Noel Kilkenny; New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and John “Jack” Ahern, the parade’s grand marshal.
The mayor attended the Mass but did not march in the parade. He had said he disagreed with the organizers of the parade, and by extension the parade’s stance that homosexual persons were not permitted to march with banners announcing that fact.
A non-practicing Catholic, de Blasio did not receive Holy Communion at the liturgy but was administered a blessing by the rector of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Msgr. Robert Ritchie. It is customary for non-practicing Catholics, as well as non-Catholics, to receive such a blessing at Mass.
Ahern is the business manager and financial secretary of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 30. A husband and father of three children, he belongs to Our Lady of Hope parish in Carle Place.
“How fitting to begin this beautiful feast with the great prayer that sustained Ireland...the holy sacrifice of the Mass,” the cardinal said.
Father Malone, who was ordained in 2012, surmised in his homily that his family, who set forth for New York from Ireland more than a century ago, “could hardly have imagined that one of their own would one day stand here in this holy and historic place, on this of all days.”
In thanking the cardinal for inviting him to preach the homily, Father Malone quipped that the invitation required an act of faith on the cardinal’s part “for, if the last year has taught us anything, it is that you can never predict what a Jesuit is going to say.”
Father Malone’s reference to the candid, affable style of Pope Francis, who is also a Jesuit priest, drew laughter and a round of applause from the congregation.
“The sons and daughters of Ireland,” Father Malone continued in earnest, “have made a unique contribution to the Church in this country.”
He referenced among them “Dagger” John Hughes, the first archbishop of New York.
One of the entrance hymns was “Hail Glorious St. Patrick.” The national anthems of Ireland and the United States were sung before the recessional hymn, “Christ Beside Me.”
The bitter cold didn’t deter the Kiely family of St. Frances de Chantal parish in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx from attending the parade. Parents Mark and Victoria bundled up their boys, Ryan, 4 and Sean, 2, to take in the fun from the cathedral’s front steps.
“It’s important to expose them to not only our Irish heritage, but also to our Catholic faith,” Mark Kiely said of the family’s field trip. Kiely’s parents were born in Ireland. “To see St. Patrick’s Cathedral is truly something and to celebrate it in conjunction with the St. Patrick’s Day parade is terrific,” he added.
For Mrs. Kiely, who is of Italian descent, St. Patrick’s Day is a day to celebrate the Irish heritage into which she married, bask in the “nice family time” and “eat lots of corned beef.”
The parade was “as great as ever” for Sean O’Keeffe, 66, a member of St. Gregory Barbarigo parish in Garnerville who has relished in the pastime since he was a young boy. “It’s a fantastic day,” a “tradition” and a way to “relive the old times,” he said, proudly noting, “My parents are from Ireland.”
Seated in the parade’s VIP section behind the cardinal outside the cathedral were guests Gary and Sally Ryan, both of whom are of Irish lineage.
The Ryans, of Gettysburg, Pa., said the cardinal had invited them to watch New York’s famed parade with him when he visited Gettysburg last July in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War battle by the same name.
The Ryans belong to the 69th New York State Volunteer Regiment Historical Association, a non-profit living history organization that portrays the life of the Irish Soldier in the Union Army to the general public. Ryan, 68, is the treasurer; Mrs. Ryan, 62, serves as the civilian coordinator.
In describing what St. Patrick represents to them, the Ryans pointed to the saint’s steadfastness. The Irish shamrock, Mrs. Ryan said, “is not for friendship, love and loyalty as many think, but that he was actually bringing the Holy Trinity to the pagans—‘Father, Son, Holy Spirit,’ that’s what it’s all about.”
Ryan said his grandfather honored the saint in thought and prayer and taught Ryan “as a very young man the importance of not only being Catholic, but being Irish Catholic.”
