Hurley Qi ’22

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On November 1, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston celebrated Mass for the Solemnity of All Saints at the Strake Jesuit.

Walking into the Competition Gym after the first period, many students were surprised and delighted by the announcement, “Today’s celebrant is Daniel Cardinal DiNardo.” As students stood up for the opening hymn,  they saw the Cardinal, holding his crosier, entering the gym. 

All Saints’ Day, also known as the Feast of all Saints, is a day commemorating all the saints of the Catholic Church. Defined by the Catholic Church, a saint is a person who has lived a life of heroic virtues, thought of as present in Heaven, and formally declared by the Church as a saint for the faithful. The process of being named a saint is canonization. Canonization usually involves multiple researches into the person’s lives and an investigation of the occurrence of a miracle due to the intercession of the person in Heaven. As early as the 800s, the Catholic Church already established November 1st as All Saint’s Day.  

“I appreciated the Cardinal’s enthusiasm. I enjoyed the homily, and it was a fruitful celebration of the Eucharist,” Felipe Martinez ’22 said. 

Following the reading of the Gospel, Cardinal DiNardo began his homily with a joke about the Jesuits. Cardinal Dinardo then talked about Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez, a Spanish Jesuit Lay Brother who impacted the lives of many to holiness. Cardinal Dinardo then discussed how St. Rodriguez managed to aid so many people in their faith while simply being a doorkeeper.

With winter approaching, Father Johnson surprised the Cardinal with his very own SJ letterman jacket at the end of Mass. 

“He was a lot more lively and down to Earth than I thought,” Mason Abrell ’22 said. “The fact that he was chill with the letterman jacket was cool. ”

Following All Saints’ Day, the class of 2022 celebrated The Feast of All Souls November 2nd.