Many believers from diverse cultures gathered together in St. Joachim Church, Trenton on Oct. 8 for Our Lady of the Angels Parish’s 11th annual Columbus Day celebration commemorating the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. 

The celebration, co-sponsored by the New Jersey Italian and Italian American Heritage Commission, started right before Mass, when “La Takkarata,” a folklore group of singers and dancers from Fragneto Monforte, Benevento, Italy, entered the church in a procession to sing a variety of songs that delighted the many descendants of Italian Americans present. 

Anna Pantaleoni, a longtime parishioner of Our Lady of the Angels Parish, and also one of the Italian readers of the day, called the celebration a wonderful event anwhich brings back many memories.

“My family came from Italy and this was the church they belonged to all their lives,” she said. “I feel honored to be part of this celebration and share my culture with other cultures.”

The Mass, celebrated by the parish’s pastor, Father Jeffrey E. Lee, and celebrated in three languages (English, Spanish and Italian) to reflect the diverse backgrounds of all the parishioners, included music in Latin as well as hymns and prayers in English and Spanish. Hymns were sung by the children’s choir and the hundreds of people who make this event a great celebration of heritage. 

In his homily, Father Lee recognized the importance of immigrants to this land; whether they immigrated two hundred years ago or last week. 

“We have to thank God for all the immigrants in this country, for all their hard work and contributions and we have to pray for the safety of all the immigrants,” he said. “We pray one day this country will recognize all the good contributions that immigrants have made in the past.”  

Father Lee encouraged the audience to share their cultures with others, their language, their way of life, with tolerance and respect because all of those things remind people of the goodness in this world.  Father Lee also mentioned the importance of the Blessed Virgin Mary, saying that she is the mother of the Church and leads people to God.

The ceremony concluded with words and thanks to visitors from Italy who walked out of the church in procession. After Mass they delighted the congregation with their beautiful dances in traditional outfits and sang traditional Italian folk songs.

Parishioners and people from the surrounding areas gathered together to enjoy this cultural moment, where Italian, Italian-American, Hispanics, and other cultures are all part of the celebration. 

Gabriela Zarate, a parishioner from Our Lady of the Angels, shared this event with her eight-year-old daughter who had the opportunity to dance with the group for a few minutes. 

Zarate mentioned it is very important that the entire community share this event. “If the Italian-Americans support the Latinos’ events, we are here to support theirs,” she said. “I am very happy to be able to show my daughter all these beautiful cultures.”

After the dances, the celebration concluded with a luncheon in the parish hall below St. Joachim Church, where they continued the festivities, and the artists from “La Takkarata” provided additional entertainment for the attendants.