ADVENT! Adveniat regnum tuum! What a classic time in the Liturgical Year. We celebrate liturgically what we do so often each day of our lives…We wait! We wait! We wait! “Come, Lord Jesus!” Orchard Street number 97 was one step of this journey; The Tenement Museum! Sitting in one of the kitchens of the apartments [having lived in a N.Y.C. tenement apartment] many memories stirred; flooded my conscious mind…reverence, idealism, innocence filled my memory bytes. Then of course on to the gift shop! Grazing the meadow of the shop I came upon a colorfully decorated book cover called: THE MADONNA OF 115 TH STREET, La Madonna del Carmine. Again a shower of memories poured into my mind and heart; cultural, colorful, continuous images of La Madonna! Processions, Panegyrics, Provolone, Gambling, Papier Mache, Pizza, Pasta, Candles, Scapulars, Banners, Decorations! Women dressed in black; hair pulled back into a bun; barefooted with candles as tall as they were and ME trailing along. The magnificent Gothic Church [built by the people themselves] filled to overflowing capacity eying the men removing La Mama from her high throne above the “high” altar. I can still hear the joyful gasp that rose from the throats of the people: “La Madonna will walk with us in our streets”; money pinned to her quite ornate clothing: A ‘Fellini-esque’ epoch cinema possibility equaling the spaghetti dinner on the streets of Rome. This “sitz en leben” opportunity opened my mind to the original goodness graciously offered by my Creator. IMAGINE!! Here is this demure lady of Nazareth…full of God’s grace; gentle lady whose only jewel she ever bore was her first and only born son, Jesus the Christ. Worthy of all crowns! On 115 th Street she wore a tiara made from the offerings of the poor women of East Harlem; real hair covered her plaster head; carried atop a giglio with everyone singing, praying and honoring the Mother of their Savior. In the procession were Fiorello La Guardia, Vito Marcantonio [a socialist catholic], the Faranga brothers; each born in that neighborhood. This spectacle opened the souls of the poor waiting for their deliverance. Mary was, for them, a new Moses. Simply by raising his hands he parted the Red Sea bringing liberation to the slaves of the Egyptians. Miriam, by her YES; parted the clouds and the dew of our Freedom became flesh. A woman, a hero for the people of East Harlem, who believed women, belonged at home! Mary, in this exaggerated image, becomes the source of strength for her people while they waited. Her YES; resounding on the street, in the homes. Could there be a greater honor? La Madonna del Carmine brought to her people innocence and passion; idealism and realism; reverence and sophistication. And the people called out with one voice: “VIVA LA MADONNA!” Is her YES also asked of us this Advent of expectation? Maria, llena de gratia! Philip Fabiano, O.F.M. Cap. “Let the clouds rain down the Just One and the earth bring forth the Son! Drop down ye dew from the Heavens!” [Liturgy of the Hours]