By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Deacon Joseph Murphy of St. Joseph Catholic Church strolled across the beach Monday evening wearing a flowing, white robe and carrying a wreath of colorful flowers.
Barefooted, Murphy then hopped into a Sea Isle City Beach Patrol boat and was rowed out beyond the breakers by lifeguards Patrick Scannapieco and Danny Rogers for a ceremony that dates back to about 1000 AD during the Middle Ages.
Murphy then tossed the flowers into the ocean as part of the Wedding of the Sea, an ancient tradition rooted in the Italian city of Venice.
The ceremony on the beach was celebrated by hundreds of St. Joseph’s parishioners in honor of the Feast of the Assumption, which commemorates the belief that Mary, the Blessed Mother of Christ, was “assumed” into heaven to be reunited with her soul after her death
“I’m very close to the Blessed Mother,” Murphy said afterward of having the honor of setting the wreath adrift to symbolically bless the sea.
Father Perry Cherubini, pastor of St. Joseph Church, conducted a special Mass that also commemorated the Feast of the Assumption. The church sanctuary was filled with about 1,000 parishioners.
After Mass, a grand procession of hundreds of churchgoers walked through the streets from St. Joseph’s to the beach at 44th Street for the blessing of the ocean.
Two of the parishioners, Kathleen Logan and Patricia Lesniak, said they both planned to dip their feet into the ocean to commemorate the uplifting ceremony.
“It’s just wonderful. It makes your day,” said Logan, who lives in West Chester, Pa., and has a summer vacation home in Sea Isle.
“It makes more than your day. It makes your life,” added Lesniak, a Sea Isle resident.
This was the second year in a row that St. Joseph’s celebrated the Wedding of the Sea and Feast of the Assumption after a long hiatus. The ceremonies culminated with a Blessing of the Sea Festival at the parish auditorium featuring food, games, children’s activities, music and gift basket auctions. More than 400 tickets were sold for the festival.
In expressing his thanks to all of the people involved with the planning and organizing of the celebration, Father Cherubini called it “a dream come true.”
Later, in an interview on the beach, he noted that St. Joseph’s parishioners were happy to see the celebration return. He said the church hopes to make it an annual tradition.
“We’ve made it bigger and better,” he said.
The church invited the entire community to participate in the celebration, not just its parishioners.
Hundreds of people packed the beach by the time the procession made its way from the church to the water’s edge.
Many of the onlookers snapped photos and took video on their cellphones as Deacon Murphy was rowed out past the breakers to toss the wreath into the waves for the Wedding of the Sea.
