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September 26, 2025By Tanya Connor
The Catholic Free Press
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WORCESTER – Unity was a chief focus as people of different cultures and ethnic groups proclaimed their devotion to the Blessed Mother at a special event Sept. 20.
For the Jubilee Year of Hope and 75th anniversary of the Worcester diocese, an annual procession and Mass honoring the Blessed Mother was expanded. Joining people from the United States and Portuguese-speaking and Spanish-speaking countries this year were representatives of Haiti, Vietnam, Poland, Lithuania, and African countries.
Bishop McManus opened in prayer at St. Peter Parish’s gym. Then he and a few clergymen and more than 250 people processed up Main Street to St. Paul Cathedral, where he celebrated Mass, and festivities continued afterwards with ethnic foods and dances.
Procession participants, some outfitted in traditional dress, sang and prayed in their languages and carried images of the Blessed Mother representing apparitions or devotions from their native lands. They carried the images into the cathedral, accompanied by Marian hymns.
Father Hugo A. Cano, cathedral rector and diocesan director of Hispanic/Latino ministry, told them they are “one family in the name of Jesus, Our Lord, and in the name of our Mother.”
Bishop McManus welcomed them, saying the cathedral had become a home for all peoples, who came from many traditions. Yet they were united in one faith, with one Mother in heaven who “continues to lead us to her Son, the Source of our hope.”
“The Jubilee Year invites us to be pilgrims of hope, to renew our faith, and to open wide our hearts to God’s mercy,” his prepared welcome said. “In a world often marked by division and despair, our gathering today is a visible sign of the Church’s universality and of the unity that Christ brings.”
In the Catholic Church “there are absolutely no strangers,” the bishop said as he began his homily. No matter our nationality, language or the color of our skin, we all belong to the body of Christ, made up of many members. He urged listeners to “become what you receive” in the Eucharist.
He noted how Jesus, from the cross, gave his mother to his beloved disciple, who took Mary into his home. The bishop asked listeners to look at the images of Mary displayed in the cathedral, depicting devotion to her, some from countries where Catholics turned to Christ and his mother to persevere in the faith under years of communist oppression.
During the universal Church’s Jubilee Year of Hope, and the diocese’s 75th anniversary, we join our voices to thousands of other people from 2,000 years of Christianity to pray, he said, leading the congregation in the “Hail Mary.” He added, “Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us.”
For the prayer of the faithful, as well as hymns and Scripture readings, various languages were used.
The Catholic Free Press asked participants representing different parts of the world about their ethnic group, and they shared some of what they have to offer and spoke of the importance of unity.
Bernadeta Pucyk, of Our Lady of Czestochowa, the traditionally Polish parish in Worcester, rejoiced that they can have Mass in their language, celebrating their culture. They also participate in universal devotions, including adoration, the Divine Mercy Chaplet and Bible studies.
“We can come together and experience that God really exists; we’re not alone,” she said.
She and fellow parishioner Alicja Borys also raved about the Alpha course their parish is offering in English for everyone, which Mrs. Pucyk said changed their lives.
“And everything can be done through Mary,” added Ms. Borys. “She’s the shortest way to Jesus.”
Esther Njonge, a Kenyan from St. Andrew the Apostle Mission, spoke of “seeing the love our Our Lady – her visiting her people in the different countries of Africa and also other parts of the world.”
“Our Lady in universal,” said Francesca Adipo, also from Kenya and St. Andrew’s. “We celebrate her everywhere in Africa ... in the United States, all over the world. And she always intercedes for us.”
Their fellow parishioner Remigius Nwachukwu said the faith is growing a lot in his native Nigeria, vocations are booming, and people have special devotions to Mary.
“I have devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help,” and join online in a novena to her being held in Nigeria, he said.
Louise Faiola, of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Our Lady of Loreto Parish in Worcester, who was not representing a particular ethnic group, raved about how people of different cultures have been coming together in the last several years and about seeing at the cathedral Marian images depicting different nationalities.
She spoke of “people loving each other and loving God.”
“Think how happy God is,” she said. “God is rejoicing at us … praising him, just being ourselves. And I hope next year there will be more ‘Apple Pie Americans’” coming to worship with these ethnic groups. “We’ve got to work together, worship together.”