Students, alumnae, parents, faculty and staff from the four divisions celebrated Mass of the Holy Spirit, the first Mass of the year, at the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption.

“When we first went in, everyone settled in pretty quickly,” sophomore Mallinali Cervantes said. “I appreciate the event because it’s pretty neat to have the whole entire school come together in one place and pray and sing together as a community.”

The Mass of the Holy Spirit is the first time in the school year where all four divisions are together for a single purpose and all leave blessed as one community.

“Often times we’ll celebrate together as a high school and the elementary schools will celebrate together on their own,”  Theology Department Chair Paul Pryor Lorentz said.“It’s really significant for our seniors to be right alongside our kindergarteners and to be able to have an occasion where we can invite parents and have space for it.”

Pryor Lorentz organized the music aspect of the Mass, which included junior Sophie Egan who sang some of the prayers throughout the celebration.

“Last week Mr. PL  asked me if I wanted to sing because I sing at chapels a lot,” Egan said. “It’s nice because I feel more a part of a whole, but it’s a little scary when it’s all four divisions.”

The mass was led by The Rev. Geoffrey Dillon and Deacon Eddy Gutierrez and students of all ages. The event had a special focus on the 2017-2018 school year theme, “We belong to each other,” and emphasized the importance of a close community.

“I have a daughter who’s in first grade at the first grade here, so to see her there and feel like we get to celebrate together in this larger school community means a lot,” Pryor-Lorentz said. “It reminds me at the beginning of the year that we are part of a big, wonderful community with a lot of people who really really care about being together and doing things together. It feels special to who we are and it’s a really wonderful Sacred Heart opportunity.”