All Saints Day is celebrated at OLOI

Participants in the All Saints Day celebration at Our Lady of the Isle Church.
The youth of Our Lady of the Isle parish carried out the tradition of celebrating All Saints Day at a Sunday Mass on November 1. In recognition of the saints who have had a profound influence on the Christian heritage and Catholic faith, the young people select a favorite saint, research the saint’s historical background and create costumes for the Procession of Saints celebration.
During the Mass, Confirmation Catechist Ginny Gibbs called on members of the confirmation and communion classes and participants in the religious education program to describe the life of the saint being portrayed. “The students had done an excellent job in their research … their performances were greeted with resounding applause from the congregation,” Marie Mazzeo reported.
Participants in the All Saints celebration and the saints they represented were: Johnny Sturges, St. Paul; Tyler Gulluscio, St. John Bosco; Henry Lang, St. Peter; Richard Ruscica, St. Francis of Assisi; Kelly Colligan, St. Cecelia; Rebecca Martinez, St. Rose of Viterbo; Felicity Williams, St. Rose of Lima; Elizabeth Dunning, St. Margaret Mary; Julia Labrozzi, St. Maria Goretti; Bianca Evangelista, St. Lucy; Nicholas Labrozzi, St. Jerome; Jack Lang, St. Andrew; Lauren Gurney, St. Catherine of Bologna; Caitlyn Sharp, St. Perpetua; Sophia Strauss, St. Olivia; and Emily Strauss, St. Elizabeth.
The program owed its success, Ms. Mazzeo said, to the enthusiasm of the participants, the support and encouragement of their parents and the contributions of these religious education teachers: Ginny Gibbs and Patrick Bastible, Confirmation catechists; Jeanette Payne, First Communion catechist; Meghan Lang, Claire DeSanctis and Laura Gurney, grades 2 to 5 catechists; and Melanie Matz, director of religious education.
A reception in Dougherty Hall followed the Mass.