Bagpipes, Irish flags and green-clad marchers took to the streets downtown Sunday. No, it wasn’t a dry run for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade later this week — the dozens of local Irish Catholics were observing the 29th Celtic Cross Ceremony, a celebration of family, heritage and faith.
Led by Savannah Pipes and Drums, the Knights of Columbus color guard and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee Flags of Ireland group, Irish heritage groups and churchgoers marched from a special Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist to Emmet Park, more than a half-mile to the north.
There, the heritage groups draped their banners atop the bushes surrounding the East Bay Street park’s Irish limestone Celtic cross monument. The ceremony’s guest speaker, the Rev. Fritz J. Cerullo of Andover, Mass., an Augustinian friar, talked to the crowd about Irish heritage and faith in the United States.
“I’ve been here many years to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, and today we reflect on the honor of the Celtic cross and all that it embodies and symbolizes,” Cerullo said. “It has linked generations of Irish throughout the cross of sacrifice, suffering and eternal hope of the Son. Even today, here in Emmet Park, it stands to memorialize the Americans of Irish descent past, present and future.”
When the 2013 St. Patrick’s Day Parade grand marshal, James A. “Jimmy” Ray, addressed the crowd, he echoed Cerullo’s statements about the strength of Irish heritage, speaking about his own family history in Savannah.
“All the families that have been here for generations, we’ve got new families coming to Savannah starting a new generation,” Ray said. “That’s why (the Celtic cross monument) says past, present and future. ... That’s what we’re talking about, and that’s what I love about living in Savannah.”
Following Ray’s speech, his chosen parade chaplain, the Rev. Joseph Smith of St. Anne Catholic Church in Richmond Hill, blessed a white, green and orange floral wreath that he and Ray placed at the base of monument.
After the ceremony, Ray said he felt like the Celtic Cross Ceremony is just as significant to local Irish Catholics as celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.
“The parade of course is the big day, but today — this is what it’s all about,” he said. “It’s about past, present, future, church and family, and honoring our great grandparents and parents and those that have died in the military.”
Following the ceremony, a live oak was planted in Ray’s honor at the east end of the park, near where a tree was planted for his father — also a grand marshal — in 1989.
ON THE WEB
Go to savannahnow.com to watch video from the march to the 2013 Celtic Cross Ceremony as well as other events related to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
ST. PATRICK’S DAY GUIDE
Go to savannahnow.com/stpatricksday for your complete guide to St. Patrick’s Day in Savannah where you can download the SavannahNow St. Patrick’s Day app for iOS and Android devices, find out where to park and how to get down to the parade, related news stories, photos and more.