Dear Parishioners:

At the 10:30 am Sunday Mass, we welcome sixty new OLM School students from our thirty-seven new school families. This year, our enrollment at OLM School is 270 students. We thank these families for choosing a Catholic Education for their children and for enrolling them in our outstanding parish school.

We also welcome some new faculty members to OLM School. Mrs. Melinda Almonte is our new Pre-K3 Teacher, and Mrs. Kerri Veccio is our new Pre-K3 Assistant. They come to OLM after teaching for many years at Immaculate Conception School in Cranston. And we welcome our new Third Grade Teacher, Mrs. Sara Aldridge, who also joins us from Immaculate Conception School. She is a native of Our Lady of Mercy Parish.

We also welcome our new Fourth Grade Teacher, Miss Trinity Reilly, a first-time teacher who is from St. Kevin’s Church in Warwick. And we welcome Mrs. Christine Higgins as our new Kindergarten Assistant. She is the mother of two OLM School alumni, Olivia and Shane. We look forward to another great year with these outstanding educators as members of our faculty.

On Monday, the faculty will make a Retreat at the Christian Brother Center in Narragansett. Dominican Friar, Father Justin Brophy, OP, is the Retreat Master. We pray that this time of prayer and reflection may be fruitful for our faculty as they prepare to educate our future saints and scholars.

Next week, we will welcome a new Franciscan Apostolic Sister to OLM. Due to an unforeseen circumstance, Sister Benigna Mallare, FAS, who was originally assigned to OLM, had to take another assignment. Thankfully, Mother Zenaida, the FAS Superior General, assigned Sister Flora Tanarte, FAS, to join us at OLM.

Sister Flora will serve both at our parish and school. She is a familiar face, having previously served at the Scalabrini Villa, Zambarano Hospital, and St. Phillip Church in Greenville. She was a frequent visitor to OLM. There is more about her in the bulletin this week.

We look forward to her safe arrival from Peoria. Summer ends this week for students in East Greenwich, Warwick, and also for our OLM School students! Yes, Thursday, August 28, is the first day of school at OLM! It seems like summer vacation just started! This Thursday, the bells ring again in the school, the parking lot is busy again with drop-offs and pick-ups, and the joyful sound of our students playing at recess echoes across the neighborhood.

Please pray for our OLM school faculty, students, and their families as they begin a new school year. May they grow in faith and wisdom, the knowledge and love of God, and may mercy flourish this new school year. At OLM, our students pray together daily and attend Mass weekly. Let us pray that they strive to be saints and scholars.

As Pope Benedict XVI said, “A good school provides a rounded education for the whole person. And a good Catholic school, over and above this, should help all its students to become saints.”

We thank Paul Anderson and our outstanding maintenance staff, who worked so hard the last few weeks preparing for the new school year. The corridors and classrooms are clean, buffed, and newly painted. Our library has been renovated and looks great. And our new Pre-K 3 Classroom is ready for our new three-year-old saints and scholars.

The school parking lot is newly seal-coated and has newly painted lines. The back of the school has a new roof, too! All this was done in just the last couple of weeks. We are grateful to Future Sealcoating Company and Ferschke Roofing Company for their excellent, quick work and a job well done.

Last Wednesday was the Feast of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, my patronal feast day. St. Bernard is a Doctor of the Church, and his wisdom is quite appropriate for a new school year. St Bernard said, “There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge; that is Curiosity. There are those who seek knowledge to be known by others; that is Vanity. There are those who seek knowledge in order to serve; that is Love.”

May students, especially at OLM School, always strive to seek knowledge to serve, for that truly is Love. Welcome back, OLM students! Let the learning begin! Be well. Do good. God Bless. Go Sox!

Back to School to Seek Knowledge to Serve