For Tony Adano, of Orland Park, a gathering after mass Sunday morning at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Mokena was reminiscent of his childhood in Sicily.

Several hundred people participated in a procession around the church and through the surrounding neighborhood, winding up a half mile away at the 1864 structure that was the original St. Mary’s parish before the congregation moved in the 1970s.

The eucharistic procession of Corpus Christi is a way for the devout to celebrate the Catholic belief in the body and blood of Jesus Christ as the blessed sacrament is hoisted and carried in a monstrance that is covered by canopy, with parishioners following along engaging in prayer and song.

Adano recalled childhood memories of similar processions, and said his grandparents would tell stories of how ornate the processions would become as parishioners walked all over their home towns to express their devotion to God.

“We’re just walking around our parking lot, and not all of Mokena,” Adano said. “But it’s the same general concept, and it’s good to see a tradition survive in some form.”

Participant Alvine Giedraitis said she also recalled participating in similar processions when growing up, though her childhood was spent on this side of the Atlantic, in Chicago’s Marquette Park neighborhood.

“It’s a beautiful way we could express our faith,” said Giedraitis, who now lives in Lemont but traveled to Mokena to participate in the procession.

“I’m spending time with my family and worshiping God in a lovely church,” Giedraitis said. “All in all, it was a beautiful day.”

The procession included performances of sacred music, including “Ave Verum” by Mozart, as performed by the St. Casimir chamber choir, the St. Cecilia Schola choir and the children’s choir.

At the very head of the procession were the 8-year-old girls and boys who are First Communicants at St. Mary School and in the religious education program. As the procession moved forward, the children threw rose petals in the path of the marchers.

Besides honoring a basic tenet of the participants’ faith, the procession also served as an advertisement of sorts.

“The feast of Corpus Christi is one time when our lord in the blessed sacrament is exposed not just to faithful Catholics, but to all the world,” said Simonetta-Marie Pacek, the parish’s associate director of sacred music. “It’s a time when Catholics can show their love for Christ in the real presence by honoring him in a very public way.”

Georgia Resedeam, of Mokena, said she enjoys this particular event, which the parish has engaged in for the past five years, because it is a chance for her to take pride in her home parish.

“It is a chance for all of us to come together and celebrate what we have,” she said. “It is a yearly celebration that I am pleased to be able to take part in.”

Eugene Satrun, a member of the Knights of Columbus Council 6993, said it is common for parishioners to have strong feelings for St. Mary’s parish, which dates back a century-and-a-half.

“It is a part of our community, it is one of the things that makes Mokena a wonderful place to live,” he said.