Parishioners gathered at the Co-Cathedral of Saint Joseph on the feast day of Saint Peter Claver, the patron saint of African Americans.
The Spanish priest baptized 300,000 enslaved people in Colombia during the 17th century.
Vespers and Eucharistic adoration were held Monday evening to recognize his feast day.
There is usually a Mass, but the celebrant, Father Alonzo Cox, who is the Director of Liturgy for the Diocese, felt that in this Year of Eucharistic Revival, praying before the Blessed Sacrament was appropriate.
The Knights and Ladies Auxiliary of Saint Peter Claver, the oldest Black fraternal organization in the country, reflected on the work that the saint started.
The evening was also an opportunity to remember Monsignor Paul Jervis, who passed away in September 2023.
Monsignor Jervis spent nearly 24 years of his priesthood promoting the cause for canonization of Monsignor Bernard Quinn, who helped establish the Saint Peter Claver Church in Brooklyn for Black Catholics.