Cardinal Timothy Dolan celebrated the inauguration Mass for the Marian Shrine and Retreat Center in Stony Point as a national pilgrimage site, a designation awarded in the fall of 2024.
About 30 miles northwest of New York City in Rockland County, the shrine, run by the Salesians of Don Bosco, is a site for daily devotion, Mass, and confession, it first opened in 1946 and is also one of eight pilgrimage sites designated within the Archdiocese of New York for the 2025 Jubilee Year proclaimed by Pope Francis.
At the January 30 evening Mass, held on the eve of the Feast of St. John Bosco, also known as Don Bosco, Cardinal Dolan received a warm welcome from Father Manny Gallo, SDB, the director of the Marian Shrine, and the faithful that attended the Mass. “What a shot in the arm to see all of you for this Jubilee Year and here at the Shrine of Our Lady, Help of Christian,” he said in his welcoming remarks.
About 400 people attended the Mass, concelebrated by approximately 20 priests from the shrine and the surrounding area.
Father Gallo welcomed Cardinal Dolan and thanked Father Dennis Donovan, SDB, who died in July 2024, for handling most of the paperwork and steering the Shrine’s application as a national pilgrimage site.
In his homily, which referred to the Gospel reading about Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding in Cana [John 2:1-11], Cardinal Dolan joked “I have dined with the Salesians many times. They have never run out of wine. Or pasta.”
Cardinal Dolan said that Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding is a story of hope for those who believe in Him, a practical miracle for times when we are nervous or scared of embarrassment. It also shows us that we should turn to Mary to ask for help. “Jesus, like a lot of sons, tried to avoid His mom, saying ‘This isn’t my time.’ But He listened to His mother. That’s why this magnificent shrine is so important. We come to His mother for help. We don’t pray to her, but we do pray through her, we pray with her.”
St. John Bosco, also known as Don Bosco, founded the Salesian order in 1895 in Italy.
Father Gallo hopes that the shrine’s designation as a national pilgrimage site will increase devotion to Mary and visitation to the Stony Point location. “Being a national shrine is a good way to promote it more so that people can attend Mass and confession. It’s a spiritual place,” he told The Good Newsroom in an interview after Mass. “This year is a time for renewal and restoration. Acts of mercy, just like the Lord has been merciful to us. This is a place to earn indulgences” as part of the Jubilee Year, he said.