91����

Saturday morning on the New England campus opened with a Convocation Mass of the Holy Spirit in Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel. His Eminence Rev. Sean Patrick Cardinal O’Malley, OFM, Cap., Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Boston, was the principal celebrant and homilist, accompanied at the altar by New England’s two chaplains, Rev. Greg Markey and Rev. John Mary Chung.

Cardinal O’Malley’s homily opened with a striking message: “We gather as a cry for help: for the fire of the Spirit to enter our hearts.” The Cardinal encouraged students to spread the Faith openly and enthusiastically, highlighting the role of the Holy Spirit as a guide to wisdom, truth, and light. “The Acts of the Apostles continues — and today, we are to be the protagonists.”

Filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit, students, families, and members of the faculty enjoyed refreshments outside before reassembling in Moody Auditorium, where the Matriculation ceremony began, first welcoming the newest member of the New England teaching faculty, Mr. Patrick Corry.

College President Paul J. O’Reilly next addressed the freshmen, calling on the wisdom of St. John Henry Newman as he emphasized the importance of a liberal education. “The liberally educated person apprehends ‘the great outlines of knowledge, the principles on which it rests, the scale of its parts, its lights and its shades, its great points and its little,’” he said, quoting the newest Doctor of the Church. “That is what TAC offers you. You are here, in other words, not to accumulate information. You are here to acquire a formation: a knowledge of reality that is intelligible ultimately by knowing about God and His creation.”

Then came the main event: With excitement in their eyes and hope in their hearts, members of the New England Class of 2030 signed their names into the College’s registry. Fifty-one new students from 22 states and seven countries matriculated, beginning their four-year journey as a united class.

Cardinal O’Malley once again took the podium when the last freshman took his seat. His words echoed the message of his earlier homily as he encouraged the students to be protectors of the world around us, emphasizing that, in a world filled with technology, we must make sure to protect humanity. “Reading, writing, arithmetic are important, but only if they make us more human.” Such is the focus of 91����: to quench that natural desire for knowledge that sets people apart from all created things and makes us truly human.

To close the ceremony, President O’Reilly officially declared the College open for its eighth school year on the New England campus. As the faculty processed outside, all sang the hymn “Ave Maria,” thanking Our Lady for a year well-begun.

More photos from Convocation

Tap on the right center edge of the image to scroll through the album.