2025 May Crowning at the Salesian Provincial Cemetery

By Fr. Richard Alejunas, SDB, Province Treasurer

(New Rochelle, NY – June 4) – The rainy weather in Orange County, NY, did not discourage the Salesians on their monthly pastoral visit to the Salesian Provincial Cemetery in Goshen, NY. Even though the outdoor Mass was canceled and other visitors discouraged, a powerful prayer cohort of SDBs gathered to pray for their deceased brothers and members of the Salesian Family.

On Saturday, May 31, the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, young SDB Pre-Novice Francis "Frankie" Chazhikattu crowned the statue of Mary Help of Christians and placed the bouquet of red roses at her feet while the confreres sang Marian hymns.

At the conclusion of the coronation ceremony, confreres were given carnations to place on the graves of their beloved brothers.

Fr. Dunne reminded the organizers that the province has not had a May Crowning on the last Saturday of May for a while. Senior Salesians will remember the Marian feasts of a bygone era for Italian devotees at the former Don Bosco Seminary in Newton, NJ (ended in the early 1980s), and the Polish feast at Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, NJ; then later at the Marian Shrine, Stony Point, NY (ended in 2018).

Next year's Goshen Mass and May Crowning will be on Saturday, May 30, 2026.

Present at the day's celebration were Salesians from the communities of Ramsey (Frankie Chazhikattu, Fr. Tom Dunne, and Fr. Jim McKenna), Orange (Fr. John Nazzaro, Fr. Dieunel Victor, and Fr. Juan Pablo Rubio), and New Rochelle (Fr. Rich Alejunas).

The next monthly province visit to the Salesian Cemetery will be on Thursday, June 12, 2025, at 1:30 p.m. to coincide with the SDB annual retreat at the Don Bosco Retreat Center. All are invited!

Please note that a “red Amish storage shed/shelter” has been installed at the cemetery to store umbrellas, chairs, folding tables, and a pop-up canopy tent. For access to the shed, contact the province treasurer's office via email at suetreasurer@salesians.org or text at (914) 329-7783.