Cardinal George celebrates Mass at Maryville

Cardinal Francis George walked behind a formal honor guard provided by the Knights of Columbus Saturday as he prepared to celebrate Mass in honor of the 125th anniversary of Maryville Academy in Des Plaines.

But it was a procession of alumni who had grown up on the campus, after the Depression, and current teens served by the facility, that stood as a symbolic visual of the event. They numbered 125 and each carried a long stemmed rose, one for every year Maryville had served children and troubled families.

More than 600 worshippers gathered in a gymnasium on the campus for the service. Bishop George Rassas, who celebrated the Mass with the cardinal, noted the gym had been built in 1927 and was funded by the family of former Chicago Mayor John B. Hopkins.

Fittingly, those gathered for the liturgy sang the hymn, "All are Welcome," during the opening procession.

"As the song says, all are welcome to this Mass," George said, "because this Mass serves as a symbol for 125 years of ministry here at Maryville, 125 years of grace and 125 years of people who have served."

Members of the choir from St. Emily Church in Mount Prospect led the singing, as they had done at the facility's 100th anniversary celebration. This time they were helped by the Our Lady of Guadalupe Choir, whose worshippers celebrate Mass every week at the shrine on the Maryville campus.

Rassas delivered the homily during the Mass. The auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Chicago oversees parishes in Lake County, but he fondly recalled his two years serving as a seminarian at the academy, or a "yellow jacket," before joining its board of directors.

He commended Maryville and its lay and religious leaders for serving as a place of protection and compassion for children and young adults in need, but he also addressed it more recent shift in care.

"Just as society has changed, so have the children and families we serve, now more in need of temporary shelter during times of need," Rassas said. "But our mission remains the same, to put our gifts at the service of others."

The Mass and reception afterward drew many of the alumni that had lived at Maryville during the 1940s and 1950s, to reflect on their unique upbringing.

"This is my home, these are my family members," said Helen O'Connor of Rolling Meadows, who had arrived with six of her siblings in 1943 when her family no longer had the financial resources to care for them. "I spent my whole childhood here, and I've made some lifelong friends."