Did you know?
On June 1, 1982, just before the end of the school year, Bishop O'Connell High School hosted a very special guest speaker. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, on a trip to Washington, D.C. to address Congress, stopped by our school to speak to our young people.
Those in attendance remembered that she did not talk about honors received or about her work as founder of a religious order. She talked about Jesus and how He became poor for our sake and how serving the poor allows us to serve Him. She explained that through prayer and service to others, we too will have the joy of loving Jesus.
Father Mark Pilon--who was the school's chaplain at the time--recently shared some photos with the school, and a commemorative plaque has been created to be displayed near the main entrance of the school. The new photo and plaque remind all who enter about this historic day in the life of Bishop O'Connell.
The photo shows Father Pilon and the Most Reverend Thomas J. Welsh (Bishop of Arlington at the time) on stage with Mother Teresa and one of her fellow Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity.
The plaque reads:
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, addressing the students of Bishop O'Connell High School, June 1, 1982:
"Now you have received this wonderful education. Now you are standing more or less on your feet and you have to face life. Face it with the strength of prayer."
"My prayer for you then: Let us grow in the likeness of Christ by loving one another as Jesus love us."
Bishop O'Connell's current Head of School, Dr. Joseph Vorbach, was a member of the class of 1983. "Most of all I remember how quiet the auditorium was as this small woman took the stage," he said. "It was as if we all knew we were in the presence of someone extraordinary."
P.E. teacher Jim Hayes recalls the question and answer period at the end of her presentation:
"How do you become holy?" a student asked.
Mother Teresa responded, "How do you get a sunburn?"
Another student asked, "How do we become like you?"
"Find your own Calcutta," she replied.
Pictured above: Dr. Vorbach and religion teacher Patrice Connolly hang the new plaque at Bishop O'Connell. Both were at the assembly in 1982.