Handel’s Messiah at Our Lady of Sorrows

Join us for the 26th annual community performance of Part 1 of Handel’s Messiah at 3:00 pm on Sunday, February 12, 2017, at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, 79 New Park Ave, Hartford, CT.    Admission is free and the church is handicapped accessible.

Donations of money, clothing, non-perishable food and toiletries will be collected for the homeless community of Hartford. Checks may be made out to the non-profit organization, ImmaCare.  Please see more on ImmaCare.org below.

History

Bridget de Moura Castro, director of music at Our Lady of Sorrows, was inspired by a young Hartt student 26 years ago to present a performance of Handel’s Messiah at the church for instrumentalists and singers from the community as a way of raising money to help the homeless.

Since then, volunteers from Hartford and the greater Hartford area of all denominations have come every year to sing in the choir and play in the orchestra. The Messiah sing-along concert has served as a benefit for the Immaculate Conception shelter on Park Street for many years.

The Immaculate Conception shelter was founded eighteen years ago, by Father Donahue, after he came out one morning and discovered a 23-year-old Mexican man frozen to death on the steps of Immaculate Conception Church.

Two Hartford parishes, Immaculate Conception on Park Street and Our Lady of Sorrows on New Park Avenue were for several years served by the same team of priests.  Father Donahue died during his final ministry to Our Lady of Sorrows in 2016. Currently Our Lady of Sorrows is proud to have as its pastor Jim Aherne, who was awarded a citation by the city of Hartford for many years of service to the community, both on the streets and in the prisons.

About ImmaCare

The Immaculate Conception shelter in Hartford has recently been made part of a new non-profit organization focused on caring for the homeless. It is called ImmaCare.

At a press conference in Meriden on January 12, Governor Malloy announced that Connecticut is leading the nation in matching every chronically homeless person with housing.

Lou Gilbert, ImmaCare’s Executive Director, said, “In Connecticut, it truly is a new way of working with people in housing crisis. Though change is hard and the everyday challenges can be depressing, we here at ImmaCare and our colleagues and partners are an intrinsic part of this change. Today was a celebration and acknowledgment of all of our hard work! Thank you to our staff, partner agencies, donors, funders and volunteers who help make it all possible!”