Oct. 3 Red Mass honors legal community

Bishop to preside at Red Mass for legal community

Bishop Matthew H. Clark will celebrate the Red Mass, invoking the help and inspiration of the Holy Spirit on judges, prosecutors, civil attorneys, canon lawyers and local government officials, on Friday, Oct. 3, 2008.

The Mass will begin at 12:15 p.m. at Sacred Heart Cathedral, 296 Flower City Park, between Dewey and Lake avenues. A reception will follow.

The first documented Red Mass was held at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, in 1225 A.D. and became a widely celebrated tradition throughout Europe thereafter. Cardinal Patrick Hayes of New York brought the tradition to the United States in 1928 and, since 1953, such a Mass has been celebrated at St. Matthew Cathedral, Washington D.C., often with the President of the United States and a majority of Supreme Court justices in attendance. Sacred Heart Cathedral hosted the Mass in Rochester last year, as well.