BERLIN — The doors of St. Anne Church of the Good Shepherd Parish in Berlin stayed open all afternoon Thursday, welcoming more than 1,200 residents and visitors who came for the day-long celebration of the Feast Day of St. Anne, the occasion for a pilgrimage for vocations.

Bishop Peter Libasci of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester celebrated a 3 p.m. Mass in the overflowing church, his remarks focusing on St. Anne as a grandmother and the gifts she bestows on the faithful, much like the treasured family heirlooms a grandmother keeps in her china cabinet.

He praised Berlin’s contribution to the faith, in the city’s gift — aided by St. Anne — of vocations and religious life.

Those who choose that life, he said, give up another way of life, much like Jesus’ disciples did, but they gain a larger family. Ask one of the priests, he said, how long their Christmas card list is.

He also drew attention to the beautiful roses behind him, saying there were 350 roses in all, one for each person from the area who chose the religious life.

Bishop Libasci said the first time he came to Berlin, he noted how the mountains around the city make it a nest of faith. He added that when he’d stood out on the front steps of the church and looked across, he thought how the mill workers on Sunday, when leaving the church, must have looked across and said to themselves, “This is where I work,” and on workdays looked across at the church and thought, “This is where I pray.”

“See those cranes out there,” he said of the new Berlin biomass plant, “something is coming to life. Seeing the faces today, something is coming to life.”

After Mass, Bishop Libasci carried the blessed sacrament in a eucharistic procession, led by men currently studying for the priesthood, the Knights of Columbus and about two dozen priests from around the state.

Before the Mass, at the welcome center in the parish hall, several pilgrims looked over the display of Berlin natives who had chosen the religious life, either as priests and as nuns.

“I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen here,” said Cleo Castonguay of Exeter. He said he usually comes up for a class reunion every five years — he graduated from Notre Dame High School in 1965 — but that on this occasion he was getting to see more than his old classmates.

He pointed out the photo of his cousin, Rev. Albert Bellefeuille.

Joe and Jean Malila of Newmarket drove up by themselves. Joe Malia didn’t grow up in Berlin, but his mother did. One of her brothers, his uncle, Rev. John Bosa, became a priest. Malila said many in the family moved down to the Keene area, where Bosa led a parish there.

Earlier in the day, while touring the Northern Heritage Forest Park, Helen McPhillips of Danville said: “I came to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and for families.”

McPhillips had traveled on one of the buses that brought pilgrims from other parishes in the state.

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Sara Young-Knox may be reached at syoungknox@newstote.com.