St. Stephen’s motorcycle blessing and ride a success from start to finish

WARWICK — It was an unusual scene for Warwick’s Roman Catholic Church of St. Stephen the First Martyr as approximately 80 motorcycles with a police escort roared out of the church parking lot on to Sanfordville Road.

But for Father Angelo Micciulla (pronounced mit-chew-la), parochial vicar, and Pastor Rev. Michael McLoughlin, the first annual motorcycle blessing and ride was a huge success.

On Saturday, May 19, after a short service, McLoughlin and Micciulla blessed the bikes individually. Some of the motorcycle enthusiasts only came for the blessing but most joined the formation for a scenic ride through the Town of Warwick ending with an all-you-can-eat food and soda get together at Murphy’s Tavern in Greenwood Lake. Everyone who contributed $25 for that part of the event also received a free T-shirt.

Many of the participants had never been to Warwick and a group from Connecticut lost their way. They were too late for the blessing but managed to catch up with the others during the ride.

Micciulla, who was assigned to St. Stephen’s Parish in January, is also the chaplain of the Hudson Valley Chapter of the Shamrocks Motorcycle Club. Originally founded as a club for Federal Law Enforcement Officers, the Shamrocks, headquartered in Vermont, now has membership containing and open to all United States law enforcement officers without regard to level of government.

Many of its members were on hand to support Micciulla who rode behind the Warwick police escort on his Victory Cross Country Tour machine.

McLoughlin was pleased with the event but later admitted, “That’s the first time I’ve ever blessed a motorcycle.”