Bishop Michael F. Burbidge blessed the campus and new library and media center of the Basilica School of St. Mary in Alexandria Dec. 8. The blessing concluded the diocesan school’s “Mary, Lead Us Campus Transformation” campaign, which funded two phases of school renovations over the last four years. The Basilica school annually enrolls more than 720 students, pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.
Former principal Janet Cantwell and Father Edward C. Hathaway, pastor, launched the campaign in the spring of 2019. The campaign implemented a new traffic-flow system for student drop-off and pick-up, new learning services and programs for students with special needs, and the St. James Library Media Center, among other changes. Cantwell and Father Hathaway designed the library and media center to act as a connector building between the middle school and the elementary school buildings.
The campaign also funded the renovation of current school offices and classrooms. The welcome lobby and vestibule area received safety upgrades, including a glass dividing wall and an additional set of double doors just inside the building entrance. The renovations likewise touched up the administrative offices, health center, cafeteria and chapel.
The campus transformation project cost $15.7 million and was financed in part through a $2 million investment by the parish, according to the school. Additional funds were raised through the Mary, Lead Us campaign, which was supported by 900 individuals and school families. The school continues to accept donations, with a $700,000 funding gap remaining. Construction recently concluded on the 8,000-square-foot library and media center.
The campus blessing fell on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, celebrating Mary’s conception free of original sin. The day began with Mass at the Basilica, celebrated by Bishop Burbidge and concelebrated by Father Peter J. Clem and Father Joseph B. Townsend, parochial vicars, and Father Hathaway.
In his homily, Bishop Burbidge asked the students to memorize three words characterizing the feast day: celebrate, courage and commitment.
“We do celebrate today, that in God’s plan, from the very beginning, he chose Mary to be the mother of the Son of God,” Bishop Burbidge said. “Dear students, one of the ways that I think you can honor Mary is to celebrate the gift of your life. God created you, he has chosen you as his beloved sons and daughters. He calls you by name, and he has a plan for you. Right now it’s to be a good student, a good son or daughter, a good brother or sister, a good classmate and a friend.”
Following Mass, Bishop Burbidge joined Father Michael D. Weston, director of divine worship, and Fathers Clem, Townsend and Hathaway to gather with students and faculty in the Basilica school gym for a welcome assembly. Donors from the campaign joined the students. Students commenced the assembly with a rousing chorus of “Immaculate Mary,” led by music teacher Nicole Luechtefeld.
School Principal Robert Loia spoke of how the renovations and additions to the school help to promote its Catholic mission. “We’re now at another transformative moment for our community, for our school. It helps us to bring excellence to education with a full Catholic formation. It gives our teachers the best tools to form our children,” he said.
Bishop Burbidge prayed the blessing rite and sprinkled the gym with holy water. Ushered by four Basilica school students and Loia, Bishop Burbidge conducted a blessing walk, sprinkling holy water throughout the newly-renovated classrooms, meeting spaces, offices, cafeteria, outdoor play spaces and drivable sports plaza.
Bishop Burbidge stopped to talk with students in several classrooms. In a pre-kindergarten classroom, the students described to Bishop Burbidge their celebration of the feast day of St. Nicholas, two days prior. One student noted Bishop Burbidge’s resemblance to St. Nicholas with his crosier — a bishop’s staff — and mitre, a bishop’s headdress. “I just need the beard,” Bishop Burbidge said with a laugh.
The eighth grade class welcomed Bishop Burbidge to the new library and media center, which also received a blessing. Bishop Burbidge encouraged the students to make the most of their final year at the Basilica school. “Enjoy the rest of your time as eighth graders, and next year, God will have you where he wants you to be,” he said.
Several excited kindergarteners invited Bishop Burbidge to the school playground, which he sprinkled with holy water, but not before he enjoyed a brief game of catch with the students.
Bishop Burbidge visited and blessed the Basilica’s new Queen of Heaven Columbarium at the St. Mary Catholic Cemetery that sits adjacent to the school. The columbarium was recently constructed independent of the school renovations and offers 539 niches to hold the remains of deceased loved ones.
Father Hathaway reflected on overseeing the school campaign and construction from start to finish, stating that Christ “leads us to the truth and to what is good and beautiful.”
“The beauty of this architecture should lead us back to the one who is beauty itself, our God and creator,” Father Hathaway said. “As a Catholic school, we partner with our parents in seeking to hand on the faith and form children of virtue who will go on to become virtuous adults and (possibly) parents themselves and maintain a supernatural view amid the ordinary things of everyday life.”
