Melody Phillips as St. Cecilia, Cassidy Craver as St. Catherine of Bologna and Kayley Taylor as St. Ann take a turn at leading the singing Friday morning during the All Saints Day Mass at St. Nicholas - St. Mary Parish.
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
St. Nicholas - St. Mary students present annual program
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Brynn Watlock as St. Elizabeth of Hungary give a reading during the All Saints Day Mass.
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
McKinley Sass as St. Roseline, Ariel Rand as St. Margaret and Cadence Burk as St. Anthony take a turn at leading the singing as cantors during the All Saints Day Mass.
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Kayley Taylor as St. Ann, at right; Cassidy Craver as St. Catherine of Bologna and Melody Phillips as St. Cecilia are lined up to address the congregation.
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Dominick Sass, as St. Christopher, patron saint of travelers, is carrying a doll on his back. According to legend, St. Christopher carried a child across a river and eventually learned he had been carrying the Christ Child, heavy with ‘the weight of the world.’
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
‘How many saints are there in heaven?’ the Rev. Joseph Verespy asked Friday morning during an All Saints Day liturgy with the students of St. Nicholas - St. Mary Elementary School. While there are way more than 24, two dozen fourth-graders came to Mass prepared to tell the congregation about the famous saints they represented.
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Shown from left are, first row: Ariel Rand as St. Margaret; Ethan Camp as St. Walter of Pontoise; Cole Yankovich as St. Francis of Assisi; Dominic Sass as St. Christopher; Melody Phillips as St. Cecilia; Ben Grochowski as St. Thomas and Gregory Snyder as St. Gregory the Great. Second row: Jillian Huynh as St. Mary; Cadence Burk as St. Anthony; Veronica Dougherty as St. Veronica; Logan Krape as St. Rocco; Brynn Watlock as St. Elizabeth of Hungary; Cristopher Polanco-Russo as St. Anthony; Cole Brown as St. Patrick; Kelvin Trinidad-Vinas as St. Francis of Assisi. Third row: Noah Tribbet as St. James the Apostle; Samuel Frank as St. Francis of Assisi; Willow Zawatsky as St. Grace; Izzy Cruz-Rodriguez as St. Zoe; McKinley Sass as St. Roseline; John Baweic as St. John the Apostle; Cassidy Craver as St. Catherine of Bologna; Kayley Taylor as St. Ann and Sophia John as St. Agnes.
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
“How many saints are there in heaven?” the Rev. Joseph Verespy asked the students of St. Nicholas – St. Mary Elementary School in Wilkes-Barre.
“Twenty?” one little voice suggested.
“One hundred?” another said.
No, there are a lot more than that, Father Verespy said as a Friday morning Mass in celebration of the Catholic feast of All Saints Day got under way. He estimated the total number of saints as something like “a hundred billion trillion … we can’t even begin to count them.”
“Today we remember everyone who went before us, who did the best they could to love God and love their neighbors,” the priest said, suggesting that relatives and friends and other ordinary people the children have known are in that number.
But in honor of the day, 24 students in the fourth grade class dressed up as some of the more famous saints. Each of them told the congregation, which included parents and grandparents as well as schoolmates, a short biography of the saint they were honoring.
“When I was 16 I was captured by Irish pirates,” Cole Brown said in the persona of St. Patrick, who escaped his captors and later returned to Ireland as a missionary.
“I was known for my kind heart,” Ariel Rand said, representing St. Margaret, who was married to and influenced a king of Scotland.
“I was visited by the angel Gabriel …” said Jillian Huynh, representing St. Mary, who said yes to the angel and became the mother of Jesus.
Other fourth-graders explained that St. John was the youngest apostle and a gospel writer, St. James witnessed Jesus’ Transfiguration as well as his Agony in the Garden, and St. Ann was the grandmother of Jesus.
Among patron saints who are sometimes invoked on behalf of various groups, St. Catherine of Bologna is known as the patron of artists, St. Cecilia as the patron of music, and St. Walter as the patron of prisoners of war.
Some students not only wore costumes but carried props, to help explain age-old stories
Veronica Dougherty brought a cloth to represent the veil of St. Veronica, which was believed to be imprinted with an image of Jesus Christ after it was used to wipe his face as he carried his cross to Calvary.
Cole Yankovich held a bird to show that St. Francis of Assisi loved animals.
And the doll tied to Dominic Sass’ back spoke to the legend that St. Christopher, known as the patron saint of travelers, once carried a child across a dangerous river. The child felt unusually heavy, and eventually revealed himself to be Jesus Christ, carrying “the weight of the world.”
Throughout the Mass, fourth graders led the singing, read from Scripture and offered special prayers.
“They always make us so proud,” said Mollie McDermott, who teaches fourth-grade with Diane Bojarcik.
In his closing remarks Father Verespy said the students and their teachers deserved a round of applause — and so did the parents “for dreaming up all these costumes.”
And a final young reader approached a microphone with an encouraging message.
“Our world is in desperate need of saints,” he said. “Show them what you’ve got!”