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By Sister Katherine Frazier, OP
Director of Mission Integration, Regina Dominican High School

November 13, 2018, Wilmette, Illinois – Regina Dominican High School’s Mass for the Feast of All Saints, November 1, was among many of the school’s celebrations of its 60th Anniversary year. Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, of the Archdiocese of Chicago, presided over the Mass. 

Joining in the celebration were several Regina Dominican alumnae; students from Saints Faith, Hope, and Charity Grade School in nearby Winnetka, Illinois; and Adrian Dominican Sisters, including several who had taught at Regina Dominican.

Cardinal Cupich preached about the meaning of sainthood and the examples of the many holy women and men, both those formally recognized by the Church and those who are recognized on a more personal level by individuals. He called members of the assembly to sainthood, to be saints for the world.

The students participated in many ways. The Dominican Preachers – students who had attended the Dominican High Schools Preaching Conference in Adrian last summer – created a video of saints to be projected on the walls of the auditorium during the Mass and ministered as altar servers and lectors.

Other students took on special roles, serving as gift bearers and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion. The congregation was led in music by a student cantor and a choir comprised of current students and alumnae. Emily McNaughton and Liz Loeher, Student Council President and Vice President respectively, each gave a reflection at the end of the Mass on what Regina Dominican has meant in their lives and presented Cardinal Cupich with a bag of Regina Dominican-themed gifts.

In addition, students from each grade level were invited to meet with Cardinal Cupich during his visit to discuss the 2018 Synod on Young People recently completed in Rome. The participants were grateful for the opportunity to meet at a more personal level with Cardinal Cupich and to ask him questions about topics that they care about deeply.

The students were inspired by the example of the saints and by the liturgy, which brought together many people invested in Regina Dominican. Maeve Newton, a sophomore, said she most appreciated “the example we learn from all the saints put together as one. Their message about living a faith-filled life inspires me."

“I was overwhelmed with love and joy for all the saints, named and unnamed,” said junior Liliana D’Agostino. “The Mass was very beautiful, and it was nice to have experienced it with my whole school.”

This school year marks the 60th anniversary of Regina Dominican High School, an all-girls, college preparatory school founded and sponsored by the Adrian Dominican Sisters at the request of Cardinal Samuel Stritch. The school was officially opened in September 1958 and now counts more than 10,000 alumnae.

Feature photo (top): Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, of Chicago, distributes Communion to a student during Regina Dominican High School’s 60th-anniversary All Saints Mass. Photo by Allison Clark, Stuart-Rodgers Photography

Cardinal Cupich poses with Regina Dominican High School students in the school library, from left, Elizabeth Loeher, Nora Ann Clancy, Liliana D’Agostino, Lisa Spaniak, Ann Schultz, Catherine Patti, Maeve Newton, Anne Berg, Margaret Stutz, and Lucy Hallinan. Photo by Allison Clark, Stuart-Rodgers Photography