On Friday, September 11, the Loyola Blakefield community gathered for the first all-school Mass of its 175th academic year, welcoming the Most Reverend William E. Lori, Archbishop of Baltimore, to campus for the annual Mass of the Holy Spirit and the blessing of a new altar created especially for the Dons.

More than 1,000 students, faculty, staff, and guests gathered in the gymnasium for the celebration, joined by Jesuit priests and other clergy who concelebrated the Mass. The liturgy marked an important moment at the beginning of the academic year, bringing the entire school community together in prayer while dedicating a new centerpiece for worship at Loyola.

The new altar was handcrafted by Rev. Richard Zanoni, S.J., a longtime Jesuit educator and current special assistant to the president at Canisius High School in Buffalo, New York. Father Zanoni has spent more than six decades in Jesuit ministry and has constructed several altars for Jesuit communities, schools, and churches throughout his vocation.

His connection to Loyola Blakefield is a personal one. President Father Dennis Baker, S.J., was a student of Father Zanoni at Canisius High School, where Zanoni taught him Algebra II and Trigonometry. Last winter, Father Baker approached his former teacher about creating an altar that could appropriately serve as the spiritual focal point of Loyola's large, all-school liturgies.

The resulting altar is constructed from pine and designed so that it can be disassembled and transported for use during large community celebrations. Rich with symbols of Loyola's Catholic and Jesuit identity, it bears the Jesuit motto Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam—“For the Greater Glory of God”—and features the IHS Christogram associated with the Society of Jesus. A relic of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, was also installed in the altar before Archbishop Lori offered the formal blessing.

Its dedication provides a fitting sacred centerpiece for the all-school Masses that remain an important part of life at Blakefield. While the gymnasium serves many purposes throughout the year, the new altar helps transform the space for those occasions when the entire community gathers around the Eucharistic table.

The date of the celebration carried additional significance. September 11 is a day on which Loyola remembers Daniel W. McNeal '90, who was killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. McNeal's mother was among those in attendance for this year's Mass.

As Loyola begins its milestone 175th academic year, the Mass of the Holy Spirit offered an opportunity to ask God's blessing upon the year ahead while celebrating a tangible new expression of the faith that has animated the school since its founding in 1852.

Loyola Blakefield is grateful to Archbishop Lori for joining the community for this special occasion, to Father Zanoni for sharing his craftsmanship and ministry with the Dons, and to the many priests, students, faculty, staff, musicians, liturgical ministers, and others whose contributions made the celebration possible.

With its blessing complete, the new altar will remain at the heart of Loyola's largest liturgical celebrations—a place around which generations of Dons will gather in prayer, community, and faith for years to come.

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