We prayed Mass with our parish community this morning and were joined by the Holy Cross School students to mark this Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. Immediately following mass we prayed Day Five of the Nine Day Novena For Life. Today's intention was "May each person suffering from the loss of a child through abortion find hope & healing in Christ."
Christmas Concert Holy Cross School 2017
Nativity Pageant
Here is our champion mass attenders, 4A,
who held the best attendance record for Sunday masses from Holy Cross School,
for six consecutive weeks.
Everybody's praying about Mary this month! One of our First Grade Classes drew their homages to Mary. It's always interesting to listen to the explanations of their drawings.
Here are more photos of the Living Rosary which give a different perspective of the liturgy itself. The children group into five decades and each wears a distinctive color chosen for that particular decade. There are usually several children making up each "bead." The framework of the rosary is a plastic chain with the appropriately colored beads, consisting of plastic hoops.
A group of 8th grade boys carry the cross to each "bead" along with a microphone which transmits the beginning of their prayer over an outdoor speaker system to enable the other children to know when to join in with the second part of the Hail Mary, The Our Father, or the Glory Be.
It has been a tradition at Holy Cross to pray a rosary outdoors during the month of October, Mary's month. This year's Living Rosary was prayed in our prayer garden during a beautiful, sunny, summer-like afternoon. The children were reverent and well prepared. The support of their teachers and parents helped make the day especially prayerful. Thanks to the photos from Teresa Makin, our school's Director of Public Relations.
Thank you to our teachers who took the lead as Liturgical Ministers this morning at our opening mass for the academic year. It was great to see both the returning students and so many new faces as they prayed reverently for the Holy Cross School family which gathered today for the first time in church.
Welcome back to returning and new students at Holy Cross School. It's hard to believe summer vacation is over but the cooler weather has been giving us hints for the last couple of days. Hopefully the cooler weather will stay with us.
The teachers have been preparing diligently for the arrival of our students and the facilities have been spruced up inside and outside too.
Our opening school liturgy is on Friday. By then, everyone should be settled a bit and ready for formal prayer.
Great story about Mr. Belluzzi and Holy Cross School. The photo was taken at our recent First Communions. It was a glorious day in many ways!
PS Thanks to Teresa Makin for all the terrific publicity throughout the last year!
It was a pleasure to celebrate mass this morning with parishioners, students, faculty and parents in attendance to give thanks for the blessings we have received this year. On hand were our retiring principal, Mr. Bill Belluzzi and our incoming principal Dr. Mark DeMareo. Dr. DeMareo will be informally greeting faculty and students this morning before final dismissal.
Let us pray for everyone to have a healthy and joyful summer and to grow as Jesus did in wisdom, age and grace!
Fr Manning
Today is a half-day of school and many classes will take the time not only to clean up their classrooms, but also to bid goodbye to our principal Mr. Bill Belluzzi.
Our new principal, Dr. Mark DeMareo, will have his formal meeting with our faculty tomorrow on the last day of school.
Tomorrow is the official last-day-of-school starting off with our the last school mass of this academic year at 9:00 AM in the church. All parishioners are invited and we hope to see many parents there to give thanks to God for the blessings we received this past year and to ask God's protective care during the summer months.
Holy Cross Welcomes New Principal Mark DeMareo, Ed.D.
It is a pleasure to welcome Dr. Mark DeMareo as the new principal of Holy Cross School. He comes to us with an extensive background in New Jersey public primary and secondary education and a life of devoted Catholic faith. The Diocesan Superintendent of Schools was pleased to endorse our selection of such a talented individual and looks forward to working with him.
Dr. DeMareo began teaching middle school, then high school before moving on to Assistant Principal, then Principal. He eventually became Assistant Superintendent and later Superintendent of Schools.
The roots of his Catholic faith run deep including two aunts who are nuns and an uncle who was a missionary Jesuit to India. He is a fourth-degree Knight of Columbus and last year was inducted into the Knights of Malta by Cardinal Dolan at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
We are confident Dr. DeMareo will continue to strengthen the academic and spiritual formation program at Holy Cross School. His extensive experience, both in the classroom and in administration and his love of the Catholic faith will be a blessing for Holy Cross school and parish.
Dr. DeMareo will be travelling to India for several weeks to offer a scholarship at a Catholic school founded by his uncle in Patna. We wish him healthy and safe travel and a welcome return to his new school family at Holy Cross.
A sincere thank you to all the members of the Principal Search Committee who took their great responsibility seriously and were diligent and faithful in their mission.
Fr Manning
Yesterday we held the organizational meeting of Holy Cross School Principal Search Committee. The members of the Search Committee are:
| Beth Camillone | PTA Representative, Outgoing PTA President, School parent |
| Bruce Eagelson | Parishioner representative, Member School and Parish Finance Councils, Member Faith in our Future Core Committee |
| Dr. Chris Huss | School parent, member Holy Cross School Board, Principal Millstone Township Middle School |
| Teresa Makin | School Parent Representative, Public Relations Coordinator |
| Mrs. Carol Bathmann | Principal, St. Dominic's School, Brick, New Jersey |
Fr. Manning and Dr. Margaret Boland of the Catholic Schools Office in Trenton are ex officio members of the committee.
Chris Huss has agreed to serve as Committee Chair and Teresa Makin as Secretary.
Advertisement for the position will be placed in media outlets next week. Deadline for receipt of applications is March 15 and the first round of interviews will be March 21 and 23.
Our first meeting was cordial, optimistic and mission-oriented. Please continue to pray for the right individual to lead Holy Cross School as principal to come forward.
Fr Manning
Our first meeting of the Principal Search Committee was scheduled for the day of the snowstorm, so it has been postponed until the same time next week, Thursday, Feb. 16th. Advertisements for the position will be placed shortly thereafter in various media outlets.
Meantime the Committee has been forwarded a copy of the recently completed Faculty Survey outlining their opinions on what kind of candidate we should look for.
We'll keep you posted.
Due to the delayed opening of school tomorrow, the Holy Cross School Students will not be able to join us for the regularly scheduled 9 AM mass, which was to have been one of the school masses.
We'll reschedule the children for another day. The mass will still be prayed at 9 AM, all circumstances favorable.
Congratulations to all on the celebration of Holy Cross School's 75 Anniversary as we begin Catholic Schools Week in the Diocese.
We owe a debt of gratitude to the hard work and sacrifice by generations before us that carried Holy Cross School forward. Catholic Schools Week will celebrate the achievements of the past and encourage us to work diligently for the future. Thank you to all our faculty and staff, the parents of our school children and the parishioners who support our school and give it such a strong spiritual and fiscal foundation.
To begin Catholic Schools Week at Holy Cross, many of the students visibly participated in the mass as greeters, gift bearers, altar servers. A reception with light refreshments followed with tours of the school available for those who wished them.