“Let the paths come your way. May the wind always be at your back. May your journeys always be joyful. May the Lord protect you and your bikes in the palm of his hand.” It is with these words that the Reverend Patrick Malloy, Dean of the Episcopalian Cathedral of Saint John the Theologian, in northwest Manhattan, blessed on Saturday May 6, 2023 a hundred cyclists gathered in the nave of this Anglican cathedral. New Yorker.
“Nothing will happen to your bike today […] May the God of the Universe be with you and always be with you”, he still assured these professional cyclists or simple walkers. Once blessed, followers of the little queen cheered and rang their doorbells. Then, they toured the nave and the transept of this neo-Gothic building from the end of the 19th century.
Open to all cults and non-believers, this blessing of bicycles has existed for 25 years in this cathedral and has grown as cycling and bicycling have grown in American cities and their residential suburbs. If the bicycle is encouraged by the democratic municipal authorities of the “Big Apple”, for environmental and public health reasons, the practice of this type of transport remains dangerous in this city of 8.5 million inhabitants where the cycle paths are too few and poorly protected. According to the New York Department of Transportation, 17 people died on bicycles in 2022 in the city’s five boroughs.
2023-05-07 07:00:00
#York #cyclists #bikes #blessed #church
