PROVIDENCE — To celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding, Blessed Sacrament School is planning a nostalgic celebration that will bring proud graduates together once again in the place that formed them in their faith.
As part of its yearlong centennial commemoration, Blessed Sacrament is planning a Gala Celebration on Sunday, August 24, which will be held on the school grounds, where 100 years of memorabilia collected will be showcased throughout the event.
The event will begin at 4 p.m., when Bishop Robert J. McManus, S.T.D., Bishop of Worcester, and an alumnus of Blessed Sacrament’s Class of ’65, will celebrate Mass at Blessed Sacrament Church. Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R. will also be in attendance.
The gala festivities will continue across the street, on the school grounds, under a tent, with an array of food trucks providing many dining options. Participants will be able to tour the school to reminisce in their old classrooms.
The gala is being billed as an “adults only celebration, much like a summer wedding.”
“The legacy of Blessed Sacrament School and the Faithful Companions of Jesus runs deep in Providence and we want to highlight that legacy through the 100th Anniversary Mass and Gala Celebration,” said Principal William Sheehan, M.F.A.
“People will be able to look through old photos and yearbooks, see the Sisters, themselves, and family members going back to the 1930s.”
For 100 years, Blessed Sacrament School has provided a Catholic education to the children of working-class families in Providence and beyond. When the school opened in 1925, the Sisters Faithful Companions of Jesus educated immigrant, first- and second-generation children from Ireland and other European countries. Over the decades, Blessed Sacrament School families prospered, and working-class kids went on to college and beyond, Sheehan said.
“Led by Father Charles E. Maher, the school established an Endowment Fund, giving generously to support the future education of Providence children,” Sheehan said.
“When the old families moved away, the story of Blessed Sacrament School continued— educating the immigrant, first- and second-generation children from all over Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. Today, it is their families who are prospering, opening up businesses, sacrificing to give their children a better education.”
The principal said that the committee planning the gala wanted people to come back to the school rather than go to a restaurant or country club. They wanted them to go inside, visit their old classrooms and get lost in their memories as they view the 18 tables set up throughout the school filled with memorabilia for people to enjoy.
“We wanted this to be a fun summer Gala that even our younger alumni would enjoy,” he said.
He noted how when he first took the helm as principal in July 2023, people started reaching out to tell him how much Blessed Sacrament School meant to their families.
“I heard again and again about parents and grandparents and great-grandparents attending the school—entire generations of relatives. Yet, when I walked the halls, I couldn’t see that sense of family, that sense of legacy,” Sheehan said.
“So one of our goals through this 100th Anniversary Celebration is to recapture the Blessed Sacrament School Legacy so that today’s students can see that they belong to something truly great.”
He added that given the fluctuations in the education landscape, it is truly remarkable for a private grade school to flourish for 100 years.
In 1924, Most Rev. William A. Hickey, D.D., Bishop of Providence, asked the Sisters Faithful Companions of Jesus if they would run the new Catholic school they were planning to build across from Blessed Sacrament Church.
The parish’s second pastor, Rev. William A. Doran, took steps for the building of that school, and in 1925, he oversaw construction of an 18-room structure opposite the rectory on Regent Avenue, equipping it with every necessary educational tool available at that time.
Today, the Faithful Companions of Jesus are still teaching the children at Blessed Sacrament School and they are still helping the school grow.
“The 100th Anniversary Committee has been working very hard to create this once-in-a-lifetime event,” Sheehan said. “We look forward to seeing alumni return to the school. We look forward to seeing all the former clergy and school staff return to the school. It is going to be a great evening.”
To purchase tickets, visit www.blessedschoolpvd.org/100th-anniversary-celebration-committee.
