Wednesday, October 29, 2008 — On Friday, October 31, the entire freshman class—along with several BHHS faculty, staff, senior class peer ministers, and parents—will go to St. Patrick’s Cemetery on Orms Street in Providence.
This is the third year the freshmen have gone to St. Patrick’s for several hours of clean-up (9:45 am -12:45 pm). Participants will pick up trash, rake leaves, clear brush, trim tree limbs, and reposition headstones. Since tending to the dead is a corporal work of mercy, the objective is to educate the young men about the need to serve everyone, even those who are deceased.
“Before we go, there is usually a little bit of grumbling about having to physically work outside for an entire day,” says Christian Service Coordinator Tom Gambardella ’73. “But after they spend the day doing great work for the souls buried at St. Patrick’s, they see an amazing change in the cemetery. They also realize that they have helped many people—not just those buried there, but they have brought joy to the families that have relatives and friends there.”
Bishop Hendricken High School is a Catholic, all-male, college preparatory high school steeped in traditions of service and excellence. Named after the Most Rev. Thomas F. Hendricken, first Bishop of Providence, the school was established in 1959. Currently guided by the teachings of the Congregation of Christian Brothers and the Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island, the institution is located on 34 acres of land in Warwick. The mission of Bishop Hendricken High School is to develop the total human person: heart, mind, soul and body.