Sacred Hearts and St. Stephen Continue Traditional Procession

Of the many things that make Carroll Gardens a special place to live, the annual Sacred Hearts and St. Stephen Procession on Good Friday is perhaps its most hallowed tradition.

Tomorrow evening at 7:00 p.m., more than 500 participants will gather at on Summit Street for a solemn candlight march with pallbearers carrying statues of Jesus Christ encased in glass and the Virgin Mary, under the title Our Lady of Sorrows, on their shoulders. Both have been used in the procession for more than 60 years.

The procession winds its way through the streets surrounding the church, and ends with a prayer service in Italian at Sacred Hearts and St. Stephens.

, the procession attracts crowds of onlookers each year, mystified by the Italian hymns, black clothing and funeral band that play for a steady two-hour march.

“The trendier newcomers are out there with their cameras asking a lot of questions,” said Joe Bellantuono, 29, in an article that ran Thursday in The New York Daily News. "They’re really respectful,” he said of the new arrivals to the nabe. “They’re really into it.”

In fact, some former residents will travel from as far as New Jersey or Delaware to participate.

"Because of their devotion, all these people come home,” church historian John Heyer, 29, a fifth-generation Carroll Gardens resident who’s Italian on his mother’s side and lives on Bond St., told The New York Daily News. “It shows Carroll Gardens is distinct—it’s not just any old place in the city."

Local resident Diane Saarinen shared a video of last year's procession, which can be viewed on YouTube.

Attendants are allowed to take pictures as the procession passes but asked to remain respectful of the solemnity of the event.