Cathedral High School                                                   Celebrating 100 Years of Excellence!

                             Centennial Kick Off Celebration
                                     September 25, 2005

      This grand day began at 2:00 PM at a special Mass held at St. Patrick's Cathedral.  Close to two thousand alumnae from near and far were in attendance.  All coming "home" to celebrate one hundred years of excellence in the education of  young women.

              The Mass was celebrated by Bishop Sullivan and the Homily by Edward Cardinal Egan.  Also in attendance as con-celebrants were Monsignor Thomas Bergin, Monsignor Harold Robertson, Monsignor George Cascelli, Father Marcel Szabo and Father Robert Poveromo. 

     Dr. Catherine Hickey, Superintendent of Schools, greeted the alumnae and thanked them for inviting her to celebrate with them a great milestone in education's history. The Cathedral Choir welcomed the Alumnae with a beautiful rendition of  "All Are Welcome." 

              The readings of the day were read by Elizabeth Santeramo '88 and Lynda Lavergne Baquero '83.   

     Cardinal Egan was present to offer the homily for the day and to congratulate Cathedral High School and our alumnae for creating such a great legacy.  Cardinal Egan also recognized Sr. Eileen Regina Leonard, Former Chair of the Foreign Languages Department, as she received a standing ovation.  Sr. Eileen retired this past June 2005 after teaching at Cathedral for 42 years.

     Petitions were read by our students in English, Spanish, Polish, Korean and Herero; a sampling of the many languages spoken by Cathedral students today.

Special offertory gifts representing the 100 years of Cathedral's history were presented by alumnae and students:

Present at Mass were two of our oldest graduates, Ms. Rita Clymer '31 and Sr. Elizabeth Collins '31.  Each were honored for embodying the true essence of a Cathedralite with strength, wisdom and character.

At the conclusion of the Mass, Sr. Elizabeth Graham invited all the Alumnae to "March" back to school for our Open House, escorted by the one and only Cathedral High School All Girl Marching Band.

The alumnae spent a wonderful time meeting our students, reuniting with old friends and teachers, and looking through the Cathedral High School memorabilia including the original graduation program of the Class of 1909, our 1955 basketball team pictures, Class of 1968 Washington DC Trip, prom pictures, and so much more.   We hope to see everyone again in May for our Closing Centennial Weekend. Invitations will be mailed in March 2006.