The Procession and Feast of Maria SS. Addolorata
Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn U.S.A.
Since 1948
All are invited to join us this year

Sunday, September 10th 2023
4:30 PM Mass
Celebrated by Most Reverend Robert Brennan, Bishop of Brooklyn 
5:30 - 7:30 PM Procession 
7:30 PM Fireworks Display 

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On the Second Sunday of September Brooklyn’s first Italian Roman Catholic Parish host the Congrega  Maria S.S. Addolorata and the people of Mola Di Bari as they honor the feast of their hometown patron saint with a Procession and Mass. The Procession and Mass are the largest such events held outside of Mola di Bari in Italy since 1948. The statue of Our Lady or Sorrows is carried from the church and brought through the streets of Carroll Gardens upon the shoulders of the faithful. Accompanied by an Italian marching band, men and women devoted to Our Lady walk through the neighborhood stopping for food and drink. Among the stops are: the 76^th Police Precinct, where the National Anthems of Italy and the US are played, Scotto Funeral Home, Frank’s on Smith Street and finally the Mola Club on 4^th Place and Court Street. The procession returns to Sacred Hearts and St. Stephen Church at 7pm where a grand fireworks display is done in honor of Addolorata before entering the church for a Mass in Italian.

In 2008 the decision to revive the street feast, which was historically held on Court Street, was made in order to celebrate the 60^th Anniversary of the annual procession and the 125^th anniversary of Sacred Hearts Parish, Brooklyn’s first Italian Parish. The feast included traditional Italian food vendors, rides, games and entertainment. Parish Historian John Heyer explained that, “while it has been thirteen years since the last feast was organized, originally there were as many as eight Italian street feasts a year held in the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood including the feast of Santa Rosalia which has since moved from Henry Street to Eighteenth Avenue. The Feast, Procession and Mass are the largest events in honor of Maria SS. Addolorata held outside of Mola di Bari in Italy since 1948. It is events like these that make our communities neighborhoods and add to the social and cultural life of our city.”