When Michael Santoro founded the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Club in Williamsburg, in 1945, he probably did not realize the importance of the tradition he was setting forth. Now, almost 10 years after his death, his family is continuing the club he founded over six decades ago and the devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

What began as a few friends and family gathering together on the Santoros’ front porch on Skillman Ave. eventually grew to hundreds who celebrated the feast day with a yearly Mass and procession through the streets of Italian-American Williamsburg.

However, in recent years, the neighborhood has undergone several changes and many of the Italian-American families are gone.

Stefanie Gutierrez Photo  

SIX DECADES YOUNG: Angelina Santoro, second from left, celebrates 63 years of the OLMC Club with friends and family.

This year, the club has found a new home. On Wednesday, July 16, Father Paul Wood celebrated a 7 p.m. Mass at St. Stanislaus Kostka, Maspeth, with a crowd numbering close to 100 people and Italian-American colors dotting the congregation. It was the first year the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Club would process through the streets of Maspeth after its 62-year history in Williamsburg.

It was organized by Michael’s great-grandson, Joseph Santoro, current president, who said, “after my great-grandfather’s death, I and my family vowed to never give up the tradition.”

He explained the history of his great-grandfather’s reason for starting the second procession. While the parish community at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church celebrated its two-week Giglio feast honoring its patroness and St. Paulinus only a few blocks from his house, Michael began his procession out of personal devotion to the Blessed Mother.

He was a parishioner of St. Francis of Paola, and his yearly celebration had humble beginnings.

“My great-grandparents lived on Skillman Ave. and had a small statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel that they kept in their window during the Giglio feast. They decorated the window with lights, flowers and the statue,” recalled Joseph. “Eventually, a bunch of people from the block started coming over and they would bring cake, coffee, and fellowship. They eventually decided to take the small statue outside and made a small shrine, and whatever donations that were collected were used for the following year’s expenses of the feast.”

Year after year, the celebration grew. At its peak, the club averaged around 50 members. Soon after its founding, a larger statue was purchased. Both statues remain with the family, but Joseph keeps the original. At last week’s procession, the crowd stopped outside Joseph’s house in Maspeth where the original statue was set up for viewing. The American flag and balloons in the Italian colors of red, white and green decorated the area.

“Since my great-grandfather passed away, it hasn’t been the same. This was his life. This was a man who would start, in the freezing cold of March, and go door-to-door ringing bells and knocking on doors asking for donations, like one or two dollars, to go towards the feast in July. And he would give them a scapular in return,” Joseph said.

“We had a sacrifice where we used to stay up three days and three nights as a sacrifice to Our Lady of Mount Carmel before the July 16th feast. When he died, no one else wanted to really do it, so that’s when I vowed to keep it going, the procession, somewhat of the feast, the sacrifice… The statue was left to me and I wanted to keep it going,” Joseph explained.

“We decided to move it to Maspeth because of the St. Padre Pio Society here, and our little Italian-American association is here. We wanted her to be greeted by a crowd in the streets, the way it has been since 1945. We didn’t find that in Williamsburg anymore.”

As the statue exited St. Stanislaus Kostka on Wednesday night, the Giglio Band played “Evivva Maria” and the crowd threw flower petals.

His great-grandmother, Angelina Santoro, sat on the truck that drove the large statue through the streets and pinned the donations on the statue, which she does every year. “Michael looked forward to this day all year long,” Angelina said. “The majority of the original members are all gone, but this is a devotion that is all over the world. We celebrate with everyone our devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel.”

Joseph and a few other male members of the club wore button-down pale yellow shirts with “O.L. Mt. Carmel Fraternal Society” imprinted on the back. Over 50 years old, they were the original shirts worn by Michael and the first members.

A few current members in the crowd walked the procession barefoot, “as a sacrifice to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, asking her for an intention,” Joseph explained. Others in the procession recalled how a founding member walked barefoot in thanksgiving for the Blessed Mother’s answering his prayers.

Lifelong member Marie Ronzo was there with her 16-year-old daughter Jessica, who hopes to become a member of the Club when she is old enough. “We’ve been processing since we were little kids… I used to be a princess for the feast,” Marie said with a smile on her face. “I do this now in honor of the people who did it before and have now passed – to keep their memory alive.”