Yesterday, I visited Saint Anne's for the first time in my life after hearing many comments over the years about its beauty and importance, especially for the immigrant French-Canadians of the past. I came to visit Saint Anne's at this time because I knew the Church had been closed since November of 2018 because of falling debris from the deteriorating ceiling and the danger this presented to parishioners and others. When we arrived on Wednesday afternoon, July 31, 2019, the Church doors were all shuttered. We were about to abandon hope of a visit when a kind Sister of Saint Dorothy led us to one ground floor door that was open and allowed us to enter the shrine area in the crypt of the Church. There we met a woman who serves as a volunteer and a genial elderly parishioner who agreed to show us around the shrine. He spoke with poignant regret about the gradual decline of the parish and the Church building itself. In an earlier day, the Church was staffed by Dominican Friars from Canada. There was Saint Anne's Hospital across the way, staffed by Dominican nuns, an elementary school and a high school called Dominican academy. This solid city block of fortress-like faith expressed in granite, marble, stained-glass must have seemed eternal. Yet the late decades of the 20th century brought waves of descendants of immigrants to new levels of prosperity. These more prosperous children and grandchildren of immigrants moved up and out of the working-class neighborhood to the suburbs and to other parts of the country. The religious observances as he described them were grand, faith-filled affairs celebrated in a church filled beyond capacity to overflowing. We really hoped to visit the upper Church but that was not allowed and there was no one around who could open the way for us. Suddenly, Richie Costa appeared brandishing a full ring of keys. He was clearly delighted to fulfill our wish and to show off his beloved Church. The last wedding celebrated in Saint Anne's was his. With pride, he presented the expansive interior of the Church that immediately captures one's attention and compels the gaze heavenward. There the marble columns are topped on the clerestory level by saints, popes, and apostles on both sides of the nave. The stained-glass windows burnish the sunlight of late afternoon with a rich medley of color. I could go on and on about the majestic beauty of the nave, the marble sanctuary, the frescoes peeling off the high walls. But there is a sadness about a once-powerful testimony of faith in stone and glass now in danger of collapsing into rubble. Has faith disappeared from our families and neighborhoods? Is this why abortions, suicides, and opioid addiction abound while marriage and family life are on the decline. this seems too much like today's Gospel in which the Lord can work no mighty deeds in our midst because of the lack of faith? I hope not. I hope somehow new waves of faith-filled immigrants might arrive and fall in love with Saint Anne's beauty, restore its former glory and fill its nave with sweet hymns of glory to God. I pray for that. The beauty of the faith attracts us because it hints at the beauty of God Himself. Saint Anne, grandmother of the Savior, pray for us! read more

A wonderful sanctuary in the heart of Fall River. The shrine is in the basement and features several chapels and a lovely one dedicated to St. Anne. If you look to the right of her statue, you can see the collection of crutches that belong to people who have been healed through the intercession of Good Anne. In front of the statue is a stone from her home in Jerusalem. For more information and the Mass schedule, refer to the website....http://www.stanneshrine.com/ read more

I visited St Anne's Shrine today and attended the Sunday Mass of Epiphany, So beautiful. The celebration was uplifting in many ways. Mostly I wish to comment on the music. The voice of the cantor was wonderful and uplifting, however what delighted me most was the voice of one of the congregation, I delighted in hearing a man who sang out to God from his heart, He sounded different from the rest of us in worship. A handicapped man whose voice displays the love of his heart. Surely he sings with the choir of angels who carry his song directly to the heart of God. His music reminded me of a child singing in church, delightedly joining in the best way he can, shaming the rest of us with his unabashed desire to praise God. I had to seek him out to thank him. His example and love lifted my heart. I asked his name, "Albert". He stated. I told him that I loved hearing his song and told him that I was sure God loved it too. I asked him never to stop. I found that he has been asked by some individuals not to sing at Mass! I was moved to tears of sadness and disbelief by this. On my way home following Mass, I was reminded f the passage of Scripture from St Luke. Chapter 19, verses 39-40 where Jesus is on his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, His disciples spreading out their cloaks on the road before him and praising him with "Hosannas in the Highest"... - And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." He answered, " I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out,"- I thought, are not the stones presently crying out in the form of earthquakes and tectonic changes all over the world more than ever? We need to take the example of simple faith we see and hear from Albert! Please, Albert, sing out with all of your heart. Never stop! Continue to teach us how to worship God to the best of our ability! You are wonderful. St Anne's Shrine is truly blessed to have you. I am so happy to have met you. May God always continue to use you to further his Kingdom! read more