SCRANTON — Now in its 45th year, the well-known Annual Candlelight Rosary Novena that has been offered in Lackawanna County to faithful celebrating the Marian month of October will be hosted this fall at Divine Mercy Parish in the Minooka section of Scranton.
The 2024 edition of the inspirational and moving devotion, which celebrates the month of the Holy Rosary and the annual Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary in October, will open on Saturday, Oct. 5, at the parish’s Saint Joseph Church, 312 Davis Street.
Serving as host pastor for the popular Rosary Novena will be Saint Joseph Oblate Father Paul McDonnell, who also serves as rector of the Oblates of Saint Joseph community and chapel on Highway 315 in Laflin. He is assisted by the permanent deacon of Divine Mercy Parish, Deacon Martin Castaldi.
According to the Novena’s longtime director, Deacon Carmine Mendicino, evening services for the nine-day Candlelight Rosary devotion begin at 7 p.m. from Oct. 5 through Saturday, Oct. 12, with the Novena closing scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 13, at 6:30 p.m. in Saint Joseph Church.
This year’s Rosary Novena theme is “In God We Trust.”
Nightly devotions include: Rosary recitation by candlelight; crowning of the statue of the Blessed Mother; Gospel reading followed by the homily; praying of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy; and solemn closing with benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
Music ministry for the Novena will be under the direction of Nicholas Katchur and Christopher Mendicino.
The Rosary Novena is open to the public, with the parish church completely handicap accessible.
For more information, contact the Divine Mercy parish office at (570) 344-1724.