Faith, family and tradition mark Italian Festival Mass
By Allison Mosier08/10/2026
For more than four decades, the annual Italian Festival at St. Paul Parish in Erie has celebrated the food, music, traditions and community that generations of Italian families brought with them to northwestern Pennsylvania. Each year, the weekend concludes where so much of that heritage began: with faith.
Bishop Lawrence Persico celebrated the festival Mass on Sunday, Aug. 9, joined by Deacon Anthony Alleruzzo, Deacon Ralph DeCecco and Deacon Ray Sobina. The Mass marked the conclusion of the 45th Italian Festival, a tradition that began in 1980.
For Bishop Persico, the celebration also carried personal significance.
After his installation as bishop of Erie in October 2012, the Italian Festival was among the first annual parish traditions he was invited to join. He celebrated the festival Mass for the first time in August 2013 and has returned every year the festival has been held since.
With the Diocese of Erie now awaiting the appointment of his successor, Sunday’s celebration may have been Bishop Persico’s final Italian Festival Mass as bishop of Erie.
“I am delighted to be with you this morning for this celebration,” Bishop Persico told those gathered at St. Paul, thanking the parish for once again inviting him to be part of the weekend.
In his homily, Bishop Persico reflected on the generations whose faith and sacrifices made the traditions celebrated throughout the festival possible. He noted that thoughts of ethnic heritage often lead first not to places or customs, but to the people who passed those traditions along.
“Our thoughts immediately focus not upon some abstract ideas or images but upon the people who are and particularly have been a treasured part of our lives,” he said, pointing to the music, traditions, food and faith handed down through generations.
For Italian immigrants arriving in the United States, he said, the church offered more than a place to worship. It provided safety, strength and community as families established new lives far from home.
Drawing upon the Gospel account of Peter stepping from the boat and walking toward Jesus on the water, Bishop Persico connected that same trust in God to the courage of those ancestors.
“They didn’t simply bring recipes and traditions from Italy. They brought faith — a gift that made all the difference in their lives,” he said.
That faith, he added, helped them weather uncertainty, build communities, share what they had and care for those most in need.
As another Italian Festival came to a close, Bishop Persico encouraged those gathered to continue the inheritance entrusted to them — keeping their eyes fixed on Christ and extending a hand to others facing the storms of life.
“In the Eucharist, we experience Christ’s power in a uniquely profound way,” he said. “Let us approach his altar with faith, trust and confidence in Him who can calm all storms.”
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