New Britain herald., 1926-07-27
RELIC OF ST. ANNE
 ATTRACTS 25,OOO
(Coutinued from First Page)

church and about zoo boys and girls
 left the parochial school grounds
 and proceeded as far as the church.
 They then turned and marched as far as the corner of Queen and Cen. ter streets, number of visiting
 priests bringing up the rear. They
 then proceeded to the church. where
 all of the children were placed in the front pews and as many adults as possible permitted to enter. Dur ing the services there were several
 thousand who were unable to gain access, although the center and side aisles of the church were crowded.
 About 1,500 persons attended the service, the others entering at the eonclusion of the ceremonies to have the relic applied.
 The opening exercises consisting of the Rosary by Rev. Father Mag nell who also recited the Litany of St Anne. Rev. Thomas Schwertner. 0. P, of New York city, editor of the Rosary magazine, then delivered forceful sermon on St. Anne, ex- horting all those present to en- deavor to initiate the Saint. A DOT tion of his sermon was directed to the children in particular, in which he urged them to greater devotion.
 Following the sermon, Father Magnell repeated the pledge of St. Anne and then the choir, augmented by the chorus of children in the front of the church, sang the chant to St. Anne. Then came the bene- .diction of the Blessed Sacrament by Rev. Thomas Lynch, assistant pas- tor.
 Apply Relic For Four Hours
 A number of visiting priests were present to assist at the exercises and the relic was applied almost continuously from 5:15 a. m.. until about 9:30 last night. Priests per- forming this duty were relieved every ten minutes.
 The closing exercises at 8 o'clock in the evening, which were identical with those of the afternoon, were attended by as large throng as were present in the afternoon. Father Magnell stated this morning that during the first eight days of the novena, he estimated that about 900 persons were present at each service. Yesterday 1t was impossible for anyone to saw how many visited the church during the day, but thousands paid their veneration to St Anne.
 During the day luncheon was served by the women of the parish in the basement of the church, a courtesy which was appreciated by many weary pilgrim.
 Three police officers were on duty throughout the day and evening to assist in the handling of traffic. | Hundreds of cars from Is different states were parked along Queen, Center streets and Bellevue avenue during the entire day. The longest distance traversed by anyone was from the state of Washington, this party arriving Sunday evening.
 A motion picture operator was also on the ground and took many views of the large gathering which assembled.
 Much credit for the success of l the present Novena is due Father Magnell, Rev. Thomas Schwertner and Rev. Thomas Lynch. All three 1 worked indefatigably in the inter- ests of those who attended, as did . many of the women of the parish. who donated food and who later served it to the visitors
 During the afternoon services, the statue of St. Anne was crowned by Father Magnell.
 Visiting Priests
 The Dominican priests attending the ceremonies yesterday were Rev. T. L. Crowley, o. P. super for of the New Haven priory; Rev. J. F. Colbert. O. P, New Haven: Rev. V. R. Hayes, o. P. Washing ton, D. C.; Rev. R. Carroll. o. F., Philadelphia; and Rev J. NJ. Bar rett, o. F., New Haven.
 Other visiting priests were Rev. William P. Laflin, Forestville; Rev. James Broderick. Terryville; Rev. Clement Martin, Hartford; Rev. John McGuiness, Litchfield; Rev. Joseph King, New Milford; Rev. Frank May, Mt. Carmel: Rev. George Carroll. Waterbury; Rev. Edward Cryne. New Haven; Rev. James Kane, Danbury; Rev. John