By Katie Vasquez
On a cold evening in Whitestone, parishioners gathered at St. Luke’s Church to pray for an end to cancer, a disease that has touched nearly every family in the pews.
Among them was Anne Nolan, a longtime parishioner whose fight with breast cancer began in 2003 during a routine mammogram.
“I wasn’t worried. I was in a great mood,” Nolan recalled.
That quickly changed when her doctor delivered the diagnosis.
“The doctor came out and said, ‘Mrs. Nolan, I have bad news and good news,’” she said. “The bad news is you have breast cancer. The good news is I don’t think it’s spread. When you hear the word cancer, you hear death.”
Nolan underwent a lumpectomy, followed by chemotherapy and radiation, while caring for her four children, her husband, and her elderly mother. She survived, but the disease returned 12 years later.
“Something showed up again — two new cancers in the same breast,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Now, a decade after that recurrence, Nolan is in remission.
Throughout her journey, she said her faith never wavered.
“A lot of people asked if I was mad at God,” Nolan said. “I’m not mad at God. I’m mad at the disease.”
The Mass was organized by the parish’s Golden Age Club, led by president Raquel Lombardozzi, herself connected personally to cancer.
“My husband is also a survivor,” Lombardozzi said. “We wanted the opportunity to pray together and make others aware of what we went through.”
Parishioners invited Auxiliary Bishop Raymond Chappetto to celebrate the Mass. Chappetto is also a cancer survivor and shared his experience during the homily, urging others not to face the disease alone.
“At first, the way I handled it was not the best,” Chappetto said. “But I learned through experience to reach out for help and to seek comfort and guidance from others.”
As Nolan venerated the relic of St. Peregrine, the patron saint of those suffering from cancer, she reflected on gratitude and hope for the future.
“You thank God every day of your life,” she said. “Everybody needs a cure. We’re losing so many people.”