On Wednesday, May 24, the Cathedral Prep family celebrated Mary’s Day for the first time as a combined school. The day was full of celebration for both our seniors and our Blessed Mother Mary. The first assembly of the day celebrated the seniors with photo slideshows of their early life and their time here at Prep. That assembly was followed by refreshments provided by the campus ministry and the distribution of Mary’s Day cards. The final part of the day was the religious ceremony in St. Peter’s Cathedral where May Queen, Emily Consiglio, had the honor of crowning Mary.

“It meant the world to me to be able to be a crucial part of such an important ceremony,” May Queen escort Anthony Frisina said, “Being able to stand in front of my school family, side by side with my best friend, and crown our Blessed Mother is an experience that I can guarantee you that I will never forget.”

The first part of this eventful day saw the entire school gather in the auditorium for two slideshows that were prepared by campus ministry.

“A lot of preparation went into planning Mary’s Day,” campus minister Mrs. Grenci said, “Campus ministry was responsible for working with the May Court in order to make sure they all understood what they were supposed to do. We were also responsible for distributing the Mary’s Day cards, writing the script for the morning assemblies, emailing students to get pictures of their time here at Prep, and contacting the alumni speaker for the first assembly. As you can tell, we had a lot of work to do, and I am proud of how campus ministry got it all done.”

After the slideshows were shown to the entire school, Mrs. Almitra Clerkin ‘81VMA spoke to the entire school and touched a lot of hearts in the audience.

“I really felt connected with Mrs. Clerkin,” senior Adam Gavio said, “I really appreciated her taking time out of her day to come and talk to us. Her speech is one that I will not forget.”

The second portion of the day is the favorite of a lot of students. The distribution of the Mary’s Day cards, as well as snacking on cinnamon rolls, was a time-honored tradition at Villa that was transported over to Prep this school year after the merge.

“I really enjoyed the delicious cinnamon rolls,” senior Brandon Colussi said, “I really enjoyed getting my Mary’s Day cards for the first time as well. I am so glad that Prep carried over this amazing tradition.”

The final section of the day is the May Crowning Ceremony in St. Peter’s Cathedral. This emotional ceremony involves singing hymns, hearing a reading from the Bible, speeches from the May Queen and the May Queen Escort, and finally, the crowning of our Blessed Mother.

“I was so incredibly honored that I was able to be the May Queen for my class,” May Queen Emily Consiglio said, “I think you could tell from the expression on my face when Mr. Pituch announced that I was the May Queen that words couldn’t describe how happy I was. I loved to be able to give a speech in front of the entire school and about my faith life and relationship with Mary. I was also so incredibly happy that I got to crown Mary with Anthony, who has been my closest friend for countless years. I am honored that this is part of my legacy that I leave behind here at Prep.”