Almost 300 people gathered to celebrate the annual fruit harvest festival at Our Lady of Grace church in Pickering Brook on Sunday.
The festival, which has been held annually for more than 50 years, was in honour of Madonna delle Grazie – Italian for ‘Our Lady of Graces’.
The celebration began with a procession along Pickering Brook Road, in which children scattered rose petals at the feet of the statue of Our Lady of Grace.
Following the procession, Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Emeritus Barry Hickey, with the Leederville choir of St Mary’s leading the singing.
The Archbishop Emeritus blessed several crates of fruit that were distributed among all who attended at the conclusion of Mass.
He also asked for God’s blessing on local harvests for the coming season.
During his homily, the Archbishop Emeritus reflected on the title of Our Lady of Grace.
“It is a beautiful title,” he said. “We honour [Mary] in this demonstration today, but also every day of our lives, when we say the Hail Mary and turn to her in our prayers.”
Archbishop Emeritus Hickey said it was important to utilise the graces given to us by God.
“We think of grace as a great gift from God, and we are called to pause for a moment to count our blessings … to see the action of grace in our lives personally, and in the lives of the good people around us,” he said.
“The beauty of the parish is that we can be supported, and we are supported, by one another.”
The evening concluded with many parishioners sharing dinner together, while others danced the night away to traditional Italian music.