PROVIDENCE — The 2024-2025 academic year marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of St. Mary Academy - Bay View. To kick off their sesquicentennial celebrations, students, alumni, current and former faculty and staff, and members of the Sisters of Mercy attended a Mass at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul on Sunday, Sept. 8 in honor of their school’s founding.
Archbishop-elect Richard G. Henning celebrated the Mass and in his homily emphasized that the Gospel calls us to examine ourselves and others from God’s perspective rather than from a purely human one.
“In one sense today our readings touch on perceptions: how we perceive ourselves, how God perceives us, how we perceive others, and how God wants us to perceive others,” Archbishop-elect Henning said that God is “challenging us to…see Him and others with that perception of God, not to reduce people to the most obvious thing about them, to see…the beauty in the one created in the image and likeness of God, to see the person.” The Archbishop tied this to the Academy, as a school founded by the Sisters of Mercy established in the early 19th century for the sake of educating women, who at that time were very often denied the same educational and professional opportunities as men. The Archbishop noted seeing this view of all people as children of God in the strong sense of community and camaraderie at the school.
“It’s the perfect way for us to be able to begin this really special celebration,” said Amy Gravell, president of St. Mary Academy - Bay View. “It’s such a wonderful community. We’re really, really thrilled. It’s a real family, from faculty and students to the sisters and our alumnae and everyone who supports the school. There’s quite a family when you’re part of that community.”
“I personally loved it,” said Rosalina Paulino, a senior at Bay View, who added that the celebrations are significant not merely because of academic achievement, but because of their spiritual significance.
“I thought it was a really beautiful Mass. I think it’s awesome to be able to contribute to the school and see everyone come together in this beautiful Mass.”
“I was really taken by this [celebration,]” said Ann Marie Sloan, a graduate of Bay View class of 1953. “I can’t put it into words how I feel, because I’ll cry.”
St. Mary Academy - Bay View was established in 1874. Its founding was approved by the first Bishop of Providence, Bishop Thomas F. Hendricken. The Sisters of Mercy were founded in 1831 by Venerable Catherine McAuley, an Irish religious sister who desired to use education as a means of facilitating the social uplift of women.
Sister McAuley was also inspired by the desire to give women increased means by which to fight against the oppression of women that defined much of society at that time. Within a relatively short period after Sister McAuley’s death, the Sisters of Mercy spread rapidly throughout the British Isles and North America. The establishment of Bay View Academy was driven in particular by Mother Mary Bernard Read, an early leader for the Sisters of Mercy in the Diocese of Providence. Originally based in Howard Mansion in Riverside, the school moved to is current location in 1949 after a fire burned the original school.
The 150th anniversary Mass marks only the beginning of a series of celebrations commemorating the founding of the school. To learn more info, visit bayview150.org.
