This year’s St. Mary of Carmen Festival, six-year-old Quinten Mazzola, follows a long line of flying angels in his family. On Sunday, July 17, accompanied by his father Lewis, Quentin rose up in a cherry picker and threw rosebuds over the Statue of St. Mary of Carmen as she returned from Pellegrini Park to Our Lady Help of Christians Church. Most of member of the St. Mary of Carmen Society are descended from families who left the San Donato region of Italy to settle in Nonantum, and they commissioned the statue as an enduring connection to their heritage.
The five-day festival concluded with the St. Mary of Carmen Men’s Society marching through the streets of Nonantum, allowing people to attach donations of money to the statue to be given as college scholarships and to local charities. (According to festival Chuck Proia, the Society has distributed more than $125,000 in the last ten years.) After spending the afternoon and evening accepting donations in Pellegrini Park, the statue was carried back at 10PM along Adams street, accompanied by band music, fireworks, and hundreds of people carrying candles. When the procession reached the church, there was an even larger, official fireworks display — part of a longstanding tradition — announcing the statue’s return.
Quinten Mazzola’s great-grandparents settled on Cook Street in Nonantum in the early 1900s, and his grandparents live on Fessenden Street. As is the case with many of the Society’s younger family members, Quinten’s parents — Adrienne and Louis — no longer live in Newton but remain active in the Society. Five years ago, Quinten’s eleven-year-old sister, Emile, paved the way when she served as the festival’s angel. Quinten said he hoped he might be next year’s angel, too.
