Hundreds Join Bishop Gerardo Colacicco for Mount Alvernia Mass
By: Steven Schwankert
Franciscan shrine in Wappingers Falls welcomes pilgrims on the Feast of St. Francis for the Holy Year celebration
Hundreds of pilgrims joined Archdiocese of New York Auxiliary Bishop Gerardo Colacicco under a cloudless autumn sky at a Mass to celebrate the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi at the Mount Alvernia Retreat Center in Wappingers Falls, on October 4.
Attendees sat on lawn chairs and picnic blankets for the outdoor Mass, with temperatures reaching the high 70s.
Bishop Colacicco, whose is the pastor at the nearby Church of Saint Mary, expressed his gratitude to all who had attended, both clergy and laypeople. He thanked Father Mario Julian, OFM, retreat director of the center, who concelebrated the Mass with Father Michael Connolly of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Poughkeepsie and others. He also acknowledged religious sisters from a number of orders that attended, including the Sisters of the Resurrection, Oblates to the Blessed Trinity, and the Poor Clares of New York. “Thank you for your beautiful witness,” he said, noting, “The gift shop is open.”
Mount Alvernia, in Dutchess County, is run by the Franciscan Friars (Order of Friars Minor), for whom St. Francis is their patron.
Archdiocese Jubilee Year pilgrimage site
“We’re here because of the Jubilee of Hope, the holy year. For the holy year, I’ve been going to all the shrines in our area so that the folks can come and gain the plenary indulgence that is offered in a holy year for the faithful. So, here at Mount Alvernia is one of those shrines where that indulgence can be granted. Gathering everybody together like this today was just a blessing,” Bishop Colacicco told The Good Newsroom in an interview after Mass.
“We were at Graymoor, and we were at Middletown, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and now here, and it just keeps growing and growing. So I wish the whole year could be two whole years instead of just one,” he said.
Plenary indulgences are available, among other ways, during the Jubilee year to those who visit a designated pilgrimage site, are free of sin and repentant, receive the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion, and pray for the intentions of the Pope. The Jubilee Year ends January 6, 2026.
Founded in 1968, Mount Alvernia is overseen by the Franciscan Friars’ Province of the Immaculate Conception.