OLM Community Celebrates Feast Week
The week set aside to honor the Feast of OLM Patroness, Our Lady of Mercy, has affectionately come to be known as “Feast Week”. In 1867, OLM parish was named after Our Lady of Mercy and placed under her powerful patronage. Each year during this week, the parish and school community gather for several celebrations of community, charity and solemnity,
The week began with the annual OLM Saints and Scholars Open Golf Tournament at Quidnessett Country Club on Monday, Sept. 21. With the generous support of dozens of family and corporate sponsors, the Murphy Family of Shoreham Bank and the Nelson Family of Palmer Industries, in particular, a full slate of golfers enjoyed a picture perfect fall afternoon followed by dinner, raffles and silent auction. On Wednesday, September 23, the community gathered to pray to its patroness, Our Lady of Mercy, at a Holy Hour of Mercy which was filled with music and prayer. Former OLM Associate Pastor Father Joshua Barrow offered an excellent reflection on mercy. On Thursday, the parish and school community celebrated the Patronal Feast Day of Our Lady of Mercy on the actual feast of September 24. Concelebrating the mass and offering the homily was Father Jack Unsworth, the retired Pastor of St. Bernard Church in Wickford, who was ordained a priest at Our Lady of Mercy Church fifty years ago in September 1976. The Feast Day ended with the community’s annual Act of Mercy gathering with several families coming together to prepare critical supply backpacks of toiletry items, socks, Dunkin’ Donuts gift cards, rain parkas and holy cards. This Act of Mercy will support the residents of Emmanuel House, a Diocesan Homeless Shelter.
The impending Nor’easter predicted to come through the region on Friday into Monday disrupted plans for the annual Oktoberfest celebration scheduled for Friday, September 25. The rain did not, however, dampen the spirits of the students who were eager to take part in the school’s first Dress Down Day of the year, when students are allowed to dress out of uniform for a donation to a local cause. Appropriately, this month’s donations will be sent to McAuley Ministries in Providence, an organization founded over 50 years ago by the Sisters of Mercy, the same order of sisters who founded OLM School over 75 years ago. And before the day concluded the Saints and Scholars “See You In September” raffle winners were drawn, with prizes ranging from $500 to $5000.
With a tradition of excellence in Catholic education since 1951, Our Lady of Mercy School supports its students as they strive to be the saints and scholars that God is calling them to be. Accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, the Pre-K through Grade 8, co-educational Catholic school located in East Greenwich, RI offers its students the opportunity to pursue excellence in academics, athletics, and the arts in a nurturing environment built upon the teachings of the Catholic Church.
