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Excerpt from the New York Times
By Christine Contillo
May 24, 2004

For authenticity, look no further than La Festa Italiana at the Church of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, at 334 Sixth Street in Jersey City. Holy Rosary was established in 1885, making it the first Italian parish in New Jersey. The beautiful Romanesque church, also named Chiesa diSanto Rosario, is filled with statues and mosaics and built in 1903.

The current pastor, the Rev. Rino Lavaroni, is an immigrant who celebrates Mass in Italian each week, drawing parishioners from as far away as Bergen County.

Holy Rosary has been celebrating the feasts of both the Assumption of Our Lady and St. Rocco, patron for those needing physical healing during a week in August for more than a century, and has held a street festival for the past 30 years, according to the unofficial parish historian, Phil Fusciello.

The festival is preceded by a novena, or nine-day prayer vigil, which culminates in processions held after Mass on both feast days, when members of the congregation take the life-size statues of Our Lady and St. Rocco out into the open air and through the streets for veneration. Crowds of the faithful and curious onlookers pin dollars onto ribbons hung from the statues, or bring baskets of money in returnfor prayer cards.

The procession starts from the church steps, winds past four city blocks and returns to a garden in the rear, where refreshments are served. The street in front of the church is closed to traffic for the length of festival, held from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.

About 1,000 to 1,500 people attend the event each night, some of them former parishioners that return from as far away as Florida and others who were travelers on the New Jersey Turnpike and were lured by the Ferris wheel. Lights are strung, tables set up and women from the church serve homemade zeppolis and articini. Italian ice, sausage and pepper sandwiches, pizza and pastries abound.

The entertainment includes a music bandstand for the adults, rides for the kids, games of chance and enough paisons with thick Italian accents to make it look like a Bernardo Bertolucci movie set.

Dates for 2008: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 – Sunday, August 17, 2008 • 6pm-11pm