Members of the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Society carry the statue in a procession to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and Shrine in Melrose Park on June 27. The shrine was granted special permission by Pope Benedict XVI to incoronate the statue. A papal coronation to the Blessed Mother is a rare privilege that only four other Marian images in the United States have been granted. Parishioners collected precious metals and coins that were then melted down to fabricate the new crowns.
Photo: Karen Callaway / Catholic New World