By Marnie McAllister, Record Assistant Editor
Sixty-five children ranging in age from kindergarten through high school took part in a May procession and crowning of the Blessed Mother at St. Martin of Tours Church May 19. It was one of numerous May processions planned around the Archdiocese of Louisville this month.
St. Martin’s annual May procession began in the 1990s. It includes hymns to Mary and Marian prayers, including the rosary.
This year’s procession was dedicated to the memory of Resurrectionist Father Charles Schoenbaechler, who died April 17 at age 97. He frequently celebrated Mass in Latin at St. Martin. “He had a great love for Our Lady and for our May procession,” said Judy Scholl, one of the service’s organizers. “He came every year. He was very dear to us and dear to the May procession.”
Prior to the procession, the young girls who carried flowers for the Blessed Mother gathered to pray three Hail Mary’s for Father Schoenbaechler.
Amber Siscoe, a young member of St. Martin, crowned the statue of the Blessed Mother. Afterward, she knelt with Father Paul Beach and several children dressed as angels to pray at the foot of the statue. Father Beach, pastor of St. Martin, presided at the service.