On Thursday, Oct. 11, students, educators, priests and volunteers from around Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean Counties will gather for the annual Catholic Schools Mass at 10a.m. in the Co-Cathedral of St. Robert Bellarmine, Freehold.
Due to space constraints the annual Mass is not open to the general public. However, it will be live-streamed on our YouTube channel, which you can
watch here.
Participants will come together from 40 parish, regional, diocesan and private Catholic schools from across the Diocese. More than 700 upper elementary and high school students will gather with adult advisors, school leaders and parish clergy to give thanks for Catholic school education and to pray for all those involved in this critical ministry for the Church.
In advance of the Mass, there will be a short presentation on the Missions by Missionary of the Sacred Heart Sister Lisa Valentini. During the Mass, the five schools in the Diocese of Trenton that recently were notified that they have been named 2018 National Blue Ribbon Schools will be recognized. Students from several participating schools will take part in the Mass as readers, altar servers and flag bearers; the Red Bank Catholic Chorus will provide music and song for the celebration.
The Mass will open with a Procession of Schools, in which students will carry a banner from each attending school down the center aisle of the church. For continuing coverage on the 2018 Catholic Schools Mass, visit
TrentonMonitor.com.
Be sure to like the Diocese of Trenton on
Facebook and
Twitter for live posting from the event.
Days of devotion with opportunities to venerate holy relics of St. Anthony of Padua have been scheduled in the Diocese this week.
The relics, traveling on a 10-day tour from Padua, Italy, to several parishes in northern New Jersey, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the Diocese of Allentown, Pa., will also include a daylong visit Oct. 10 to St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, Freehold, and a morning visit Oct. 12 to the Monastery of St. Clare in Chesterfield.
On Oct. 10 in the Co-Cathedral, the day will begin at 9 a.m. with Mass, at which time the relics will be carried into church. Veneration of the relics will begin after Mass and continue until noon, when there will be a recitation of the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. Veneration will continue throughout the afternoon and early evening until the celebration of Mass at 7 p.m. The Co-Cathedral is located at 61 Georgia Road, Freehold.
On Oct. 12 the Monastery will be open for veneration from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. During those hours, visitors are welcome to pray before the relics; there will be no special prayer services or celebration of Masses. Sister Etta said those planning to attend should notify the monastery by Oct. 10 at 609-324-2638. The Monastery is located at 150 White Pine Road.
You can find all this information and more on
TrentonMonitor.com. More than 250 married couples from Ocean and Monmouth Counties as well as their families and friends gathered Oct. 7 in St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, Freehold, for the first of
Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M.’s two annual Anniversary Blessing Masses. The couples renewed their vows; received a blessing and certificate of recognition, and were further celebrated during a reception after Mass.
“I think people recognize it’s [unique] to be blessed by the Bishop,” Peg Hensler, associate director of Marriage Ministries and NFP for the diocesan Department of Evangelization and Family Life, said prior to the event.
A second Anniversary Blessing Mass will be held Oct. 21 in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, to celebrate couples from Burlington and Mercer Counties.
Look for full coverage of both Masses – including articles, dozens of photos, a list of the special couples and their original wedding photos – in The Monitor’s Anniversary Blessings keepsake magazine, scheduled for release Nov. 1.
In addition, full photo galleries with dozens of pictures capturing the magic of both days will be posted to
TrentonMonitor.com in the coming weeks.