Our Lady Star of the Sea School in Solomons, Maryland, celebrated its past, present and future during a Jan. 27 visit by Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory.

Welcoming Cardinal Gregory to the school Mass at the parish’s church, Father Ken Gill – the pastor of Our Lady Star of the Sea – noted that the first resident pastor there, Father Maurice Alexander, was appointed in 1920, and Our Lady Star of the Sea School opened in 1933, staffed by the Sisters of Divine Providence from Kentucky, who continued serving the school and parish until leaving this past summer.

Students pray during Cardinal Gregory's Jan. 27 Mass for Our Lady Star of the Sea School in Solomons. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

In his homily, the cardinal said Father Gill told him that the sisters were watching the livestreamed Mass, and he thanked them, saying they did a “wonderful job building on the foundation of faith” of generations of students there.

“They were teachers here at Our Lady Star of the Sea for about 90 years… So Sisters, wherever you are, thank you for being such devoted servants of this local Church and in many, many other schools throughout our country,” he said.

In addition to serving at Our Lady Star of the Sea, the Sisters of Divine Providence also taught locally over the years at the now-closed Our Lady of Sorrows School in Takoma Park, at Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, at St. Bartholomew School in Bethesda, and at St. Matthias School in Lanham.

At Solomons, the sisters also visited and brought the Eucharist to the sick and homebound elderly and served in a variety of parish ministries, and members of their congregation also served at The Catholic University of America and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

As the Mass began, Father Gill said, “I like to say there are no coincidences in the spiritual life, and today is the birthday of Jean-Martin Moye, the founder of the Congregation of Divine Providence.” Blessed Moye, a French priest, founded the religious order in 1762 and was beatified in 1954. The Sisters of Divine Providence first arrived in the United States in 1889.

After Communion, Cardinal Gregory blessed a plaque honoring the Sisters of Divine Providence who served there, and it will be hung first in the church and then permanently in the school.

After Communion at the Jan. 27 Mass, Cardinal Gregory blesses a plaque honoring Sisters of Divine Providence who served in various ministries at Our Lady Star of the Sea School and Parish over nearly nine decades. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

“We thank God for the sisters,” the cardinal said. “Their names are listed (on the plaque), and the years they served here are listed as well. Let us keep them and their community always in our prayers.” The plaque includes the names of 58 Sisters of Divine Providence who served at Our Lady Star of the Sea from the time of the Depression to the digital era.

Cardinal Gregory noted that the Mass for Our Lady Star of the Sea School commemorated Catholic Schools Week, which will be celebrated Jan. 31 through Feb. 6, and the Mass was being celebrated on the feast day of St. Angela Merici, a pioneer in Catholic education who in 1535 founded the Ursuline Sisters, the first teaching congregation of women in the Catholic Church. 

“They (the Ursulines) made it their special task to teach poor young girls, and because of that, many, many young women in her world got the chance for a good education, because of her courage, her wisdom and her insight,” he said.

Cardinal Gregory preaches at the Jan. 27 Mass for Our Lady Star of the Sea School in Solomons. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

The cardinal – speaking to the students attending the Mass who wore masks and sat at social distances from each other following coronavirus safety guidelines – emphasized the important role that parents have as the first teachers of the faith for their children. He pointed out that, “In our Catholic schools, our teachers and administrators build on the foundation of faith you find first of all in your homes, with Mom and Dad, with Grandma and Grandpa and your family.”

Washington’s cardinal then offered special thanks to all those who help continue the tradition of Catholic education offered to students there.

“For all who make this school possible and who help it to grow in strength, I thank you,” he said. “I thank all the parents, grandparents, parishioners and benefactors who invest their time and their talent and their treasure to make Our Lady Star of the Sea School such a wonderful presence in Calvert Country.”

In the photos above and below, students pray during Cardinal Gregory's Jan. 27 Mass for Our Lady Star of the Sea School in Solomons. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

The school’s continued existence is a testament to that support. In the spring of 2020, the level of enrollment at Our Lady Star of the Sea School paired with the COVID-19 economic downturn threatened its future.

In an earlier interview, Father Gill said the school community, “after many prayers to our patroness, Our Lady Star of the Sea,” decided not to close the school, because “the future of our children was too important… to give into the darkness of that moment in the pandemic.”

The school then formed groups to plan its academic programs for the fall to offer in-person and virtual learning for students, and also to adopt needed safety protocols and technology. Teachers took extra training to adapt to the school’s new learning model.

Meanwhile, some families took the initiative to put up billboards along Southern Maryland roadways inviting students to attend Our Lady Star of the Sea School, and they also used social media and word of mouth to promote the school.

When Our Lady Star of the Sea School opened its doors in August, its enrollment had increased from 103 students in June to 136 students, and now 143 students are attending the school, more than a 40 percent increase in one year.

Father Ken Gill, the pastor of Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish in Solomons, gives Communion to a student from Our Lady Star of the Sea School during the cardinal's Jan. 27 Mass there. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

In an interview after the cardinal’s Mass, Jennifer Thompson, the school’s principal, said, “Our whole Our Lady Star of the Sea School community and the community at large have been here to support Catholic education. It definitely has been a community effort.”

She noted that more than 90 percent of students there have been attending classes in-person, with the rest joining in virtually through Google Classroom. In addition to mandatory mask wearing and classroom desks spaced six feet apart or separated by screens, the safety protocols have included students having their temperatures checked as they arrive for school. Students eat their lunches in their classrooms, and signs along the hallways remind them to keep a social distance from each other. In addition to having hand sanitizer available for students, the school installed touchless soap dispensers, and the drinking fountains have been replaced by touchless water bottle filling stations. When the weather was milder, some classes were held outside on a patio, in a large tent or on the lawn overlooking where the Chesapeake Bay meets the mouth of the Patuxent River.

“There have been many protocols that we’ve had to follow, but its been worth every bit of stress to be here, to see the students every day,” Thompson said.

Earlier during the Mass, Cardinal Gregory offered thanks to Catholic school teachers. As he concluded his homily, he said, “Thank you to all of our lay teachers who give of themselves so generously and so effectively in making Catholic schools both possible and successful. Here at Our Lady Star of the Sea and throughout our archdiocese, we have so many wonderful lay teachers who perhaps could make more money in other places or could do other things with their many talents, but they generously bring those talents to the youngsters at our schools.” 

A prayer at the Mass was offered in thanksgiving to parents and guardians “who sacrifice to provide us benefits of Catholic education,” and another prayer remembered those who have died of COVID-19 and the families who mourn them. In addition to Father Gill, the other concelebrant of the Mass was Father Joseph Pierce, the pastor of St. John Vianney Parish in Prince Frederick which cosponsors the school

The Mass with Cardinal Gregory closed with people praying the Hail Mary together, then Father Gill said, “Our Lady Star of the Sea, pray for us.”

Thompson in her interview noted a special connection the Our Lady Star of the Sea students had with Cardinal Gregory. After Pope Francis named him as a new cardinal in late October, the school sent him a spiritual bouquet, which Father Gill gave to him at a meeting with priests. 

“It was an actual bouquet of flowers with the school colors, blue and gold,” she said. “We hung a tag on each of the flowers, one from pre-kindergarten through the eighth grade. On the back of each tag was a prayer they committed to pray for his intentions.”

After the Mass on Jan. 27, Cardinal Gregory visits the third grade classroom at Our Lady Star of the Sea School in Solomons, where the school's coronavirus safety measures include mandatory mask wearing, social distancing and partitions between desks. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

After the Mass, Cardinal Gregory paid a visit to Our Lady Star of the Sea School, stopping along the way to greet second graders having a snack break outside, and then he visited the third grade classroom, where teacher Maggie Quade demonstrated the school’s  new TouchIT Rapide technology. The cardinal took questions from students in the classroom and from some children who were attending their classes virtually.

In an email, Father Gill explained, “We invested in this technology over the Christmas break to pilot test this semester in the school.  It is a 75 inch interactive flat screen that is a combination computer, whiteboard, and collaboration tool allowing real time access for both in-classroom and virtual learners.  Our hope is to outfit each of the classrooms with this technology over the summer.  It will replaces our overhead projectors and starboards we currently have.” He noted those devices are “approaching the end of their life cycle.”

Cardinal Gregory’s visit that began with a Mass celebrating the school’s legacy and the continuing support of its community concluded with that classroom visit and a preview of its future technology for students.

During his visit to the third grade classroom at Our Lady Star of the Sea School, Cardinal Gregory greets students who are learning virtually with their classmates through Google Classroom. At left is Maggie Quade, the third grade teacher at Our Lady Star of the Sea School in Solomons. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

 Maggie Quade, the third grade teacher who also serves as vice-principal at Our Lady Star of the Sea School, noted in an email, “(The) third grade was so excited and honored to have Cardinal Gregory visit our class. Our virtual and in-person learners loved showing him how our classroom works and the new technology we are using. Our new TouchIT Rapide board we are testing has allowed us to collaborate with virtual learners in a new innovative way and it was exciting to share that with the cardinal.”