PORTLAND, Maine — Masses and special events at churches across Maine will highlight the diocese’s celebration of the Feast Day of St. Patrick on Sunday, March 17.
In Houlton, St. Patrick’s Bazaar, a tradition that began over 100 years ago, will be renewed at St. Anthony Hall, located on 112 Military St. from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The event will feature corned beef and cabbage, roast turkey and all the fixings. Admission is $10, but $32 for a family of four.
Doors will open at 2 p.m. for the traditional “cake walk” for children. The bazaar will also include a raffle and auction. For more information, call (207) 532-2871.
The feast day holds special significance in the Diocese of Portland as St. Patrick, along with St. Jean Baptiste, is a secondary patron of the diocese. In addition, St. Patrick Church in Newcastle was the first church in the country named for St. Patrick. It was dedicated by Fr. Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus on July 17, 1808, a year before the cornerstone was laid for St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.
The original St. Patrick Church has been in continual use longer than any other Catholic church in New England.
St. Patrick, who was captured by Irish raiders as a teenager in the fifth century, ultimately escaped his enslavement, entered the Church, and returned to Ireland where he brought the message of the Gospel to the very people who had kept him in slavery.
Bishop Robert P. Deeley, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from County Galway, Ireland, will celebrate Mass on Saint Patrick’s Day at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, located on 307 Congress Street in Portland.
