St. Anthony Shrine to hold mass in honor of Martin Luther King

(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com)

The second-floor chapel inside St. Anthony Shrine at 100 Arch St. in downtown Boston.

By Jeremy C. Fox, Town Correspondent

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, downtown Boston’s St. Anthony Shrine has announced a special mass to be held in honor of the Civil Rights leader slain 45 years ago.

The mass at noon on Sunday, Jan. 20, will be hosted by the African Heritage Committee of the Franciscans of Holy Name Province, the order that staffs the shrine, and led by Reverend Joseph Nangle.

“The friars at St. Anthony Shrine and Ministry Center joyfully welcome the members of the Holy Name Province African Heritage Committee to Boston,” said Reverend Jim Kelly, guardian and executive director of St. Anthony Shrine, in a statement.

“Traditionally the province has celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the more southern (warmer!) regions,” Kelly continued. “They honor us here in Boston this year by having their annual provincial-wide celebration of the life, significance, and works of Martin Luther King.”

A member of the Franciscan Friars of Holy Name Province, Nangle ministers to the Hispanic community at Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Arlington, Va. He is treasurer and secretary on the board of directors of the Franciscan Action Network, was a co-founder of the Franciscan Mission Service in Washington, D.C., and has done missionary work in Latin America.

Remembered for his leadership in the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, the 1963 March on Washington where he delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, and many other crucial events in the Civil Rights movement, King was born on Jan. 15, 1929, and assassinated on April 4, 1968. He would have been 84 this year.

Since 1986, Martin Luther King Jr. Day has been celebrated as a federal holiday, falling on the third Monday in January since 1992.

Email Jeremy C. Fox at jeremy.fox@globe.com.
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