COVER STORY
This is the time of year to find festivals of lights both near and far.
T
he grandest of them all, the National Shrine of Our Lady Of LaSallete's "Festival of Lights" in Attleboro, will open as usual this year on Thanksgiving Day, November 25. Its acres of brilliant holiday lights displays will be available for public view every night from 5-9 p.m. until January 2, 2022. This year's theme is "Love is Born", said Father Flavio Gillio MS, shrine director. He proudly notes it will be a full-fledged celebration of the true meaning of Christmas this year. The Crech Museum, devoted to an international display of Christ in the manger scenes, will open Monday to Friday from 5-9 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 2-9 p.m. The food court and snack bar will open Monday to Friday from 4-9 and Saturday and Sunday noon to 9 p.m.. LaSallette's very popular yearly attraction, Christian folk singer Father Pat, Gillio added, will also again appear in concert starting on Thanksgiving Day at 7 p.m. and every Friday and Saturday at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
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A light on the holidays by Michael J. DeCicco
The National Shrine of our Lady of La Salette has been a spiritual, social, and human service home to thousands of people from all walks of life for over 60 years Father Andre Patenaude MS, known to all as “Father Pat,” began singing in his childhood years in Fall River, the LaSallette website notes. He continued to sing and learned to play the guitar during his preparation for the priesthood with the La Salette Missionaries. Father Pat is a world-renowned Christian music legend, Catholic evangelist, singer, songwriter, composer, and recording artist. He is known for his graceful tenor
December 2021 | The South Coast Insider
voice and charismatic concerts which take place around the nation and the world, and for hosting his own radio and television programs. Children's attractions and rides will again include photos with St. Nicholas in the welcome center on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 5-9 p.m. and the "Ride to Bethlehem" and the Carousel. Masses will be held Monday through Saturday in the church at 12:10 and 4, and Sunday at 12:10, 4, and 5:30 p.m. Confession will be available daily from 1-4 p.m. The National Shrine of our Lady of La Salette has been a spiritual, social, and human service home to thousands of people from all walks of life for over 60 years, its website notes. In 1942, the La Salette Missionaries bought the Attleboro property as a major seminary and in 1952 the construction of the Shrine was announced. The Feast of the Immaculate Conception marked the
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