Religion: Assumption

Some Irish Catholics say: "On Lady's Day there's a cure in the waters." Last week came Lady's Day—the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Though the Church provides for no such celebration, indeed frowns upon it as superstitious, many a Catholic in Ireland and in Irish-settled districts of the U.S. took to the waters. Especially crowded were the sea beaches fringing New York City. On Staten Island, believers arose at dawn, thinking that the earlier the dip the more sure the cure. Method of seeking cures— for anything from headache...

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