Hundreds of people ran through the streets of New Columbus in Nesquehoning on Sunday, jockeying for position to get a coveted rose from heaven.

A helicopter dropped around 300 roses near the Shrine of St. Therese Lisieux to bring the 83rd annual Shower of Roses to a close.The full-day celebration, held at the former Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, honors St. Therese and included the crowning of the 2015 Rose Queen, Grace Ann Williams.Williams is a sophomore at Panther Valley High School.Urielle Berstein Cuebas, 15, of Nesquehoning, was named the Rose Princess.The crowning occurred during a 1 p.m. Mass with the Monsignor Alfred Schlert, diocesan vicar general.For Schlert, the day was a chance to reflect on the woman known as "The Little Flower of Jesus.""I think we can all really relate to her because she was the saint of little things," he said of St. Therese. "She wanted to do even the smallest tasks for the love of God."The Shower of Roses, Schlert said, symbolizes the answered prayers she has sent down.The roses represent the belief that when St. Therese answers someone's prayer, that person will smell the fragrance of roses, or find a rose in an unusual place. The belief is thought to have come from St. Therese's promise to send a shower of roses to earth as proof of God's existence.After Mass, a small parade went through the streets of New Columbus featuring Williams, Cuebas and last year's Rose Queen, Beatrice Petschauer.Members of the Marian High School band also participated.A benediction followed the parade.The festival restarted in 2012, four years after the Allentown Diocese closed Our Lady of Mount Carmel, folding it, along with Sacred Heart and Immaculate Conception churches, into a new church, St. Francis of Assisi."I think this really brings the town together," said Sean Brown, who said he lives close enough to walk to the shrine. "It's a highlight for people trying to catch the roses, but I do hope they keep in mind the true meaning behind it."Lansford's Sandra Craig agreed."I hated to see them stop it for a few years because I think it's hard to get it back, but this event has done well," she said. "This shrine is just beautiful. The day means a lot to the people around here."Therese was canonized a saint in 1925 and later this month, her parents will receive the same honor in Rome.Louis Martin and Marie Zelie Guerin Martin will be the first married couple with children to be canonized in the same ceremony"Life is a pressure cooker and family pulls us through," Schlert said. "Therese's parents show us that the family is a factory of hope."