Guardian angels for motorcyclists

TWIN LAKES — It would seem that bikers and blessing go hand in hand as easily as burgers and buns. It was a surprising juxtaposition, the long line of parked motorcycles gleaming in the sun outside the little clapboard chapel that is the All Saints of America Orthodox Church on Twin Lakes Road. But the annual Blessing of the Bikes on Sunday, June 11, was a high-spirited day for the devout. 

Clad (naturally) in bandanas and leathers, riders made the church their midday stop to enjoy a summer barbecue out on the lawn  and celebrate the third year of  the blessing, led by Archpriest John Kreta. 

“This started with my buddy Ralph Baker here,” Kreta explained. “He and I were talking about how in the Orthodox Church we bless everything. We bless houses, we bless cars, we bless other vehicles, we bless ambulances, we bless firetrucks, we bless whatever! Everything is bless-able by God. All things are gifts from God. And so I mentioned to Ralph, I said I’d never blessed bikes, I’d love to bless motorcycles. He got some of his friends together three years ago for the first time, and we’ve tried to build it up each year.”

Baker stood beside Kreta, creating an unlikely pairing of tattooed bare arms and priestly garb. A resident of Waterbury, Baker has watched attendance at the event grow among the biker community of Connecticut each year. 

This year was the largest turnout, with bikers, he said, “from Torrington all the way down to Naugatuck. We all like to bless, you know? We all in our own way praise God. This a great opportunity, and then with his Excellency here today…,” Baker said, referring to the Archbishop of Boston. “That was amazing, it really was. Riders were saying, it’s really like we got blessed by God.” 

“In the prayer we ask that God send a guardian angel over them as they ride their bikes,” Kreta said. “We’re concerned about their safety and just want them to be blessed, and have that guardian angel traveling with them and protecting them as they enjoy this summer.”

Baker produced a quarter-sized pin that was presented to each of the bikers at the blessing, depicted Mary and the baby Jesus surrounded by 12 saints of the Orthodox Church. 

“We’ll put these on our vests. It blesses the bike and it’s a token of our commitment to our faith,” he said.