Novena starts today-

By All Hands (Gloucester Daily Times)

It’s another week and a half to go before Gloucester’s 2009 St. Peter’s Fiesta hits full stride.

But the first elements of Fiesta begin on Monday — and that goes beyond the very visible construction of the altar in St. Peter’s Square, and the well-wishing signs for a “Buono Fiesta” greeting customers at some Rogers Street watering holes and other local businesses.

The nine-day Novena to St. Peter — held each year as a prelude to the Fiesta and the patron saint of the fishermen — opens Monday at 7 p.m. and continues at the same time each night through June 23 in the former Doyon’s building on Rogers Street, next to St. Peter’s Square.

The public is invited to attend any or all of the Novenas. Anyone seeking further information is welcome to call St. Peter’s Fiesta Committee member Joe Novello at (978) 283-4367.