LEWISTON — Continuing a long tradition, Bishop Robert Deeley gathered with members of the Saint Dominic Academy school community Sept. 13 for a Mass celebrating the start of the school year.

Hundreds of students from both the Lewiston and Auburn campuses of St. Dom’s filled nearly every pew of Holy Cross Church in Lewiston.

While first checking with the students on how the school year has gone so far, the bishop then looked to the months ahead, urging the students to take advantage of the opportunities that lie before them, according to a news release from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.

Enrollment at the school’s two campuses has topped 450. The school recently received institutional accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, and the academy welcomed a third member of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist, Sister Jacinta Coscia, to its faculty.

“It really is unique to St. Dom’s that we have three religious sisters teaching here,” said Alanna Stevenson, principal of the Auburn campus. “It is the basis of Catholic education to have religious instruction from religious sisters. Many of our grandparents who are seeing their grandchildren come through here had sisters for their teachers, so it’s nice to see.”

Students participated in many aspects of the Mass, serving as readers, altar servers, cantors and choir members. They also presented the gifts during the offertory.

At the conclusion of the Mass, members of the school’s baseball team each took a turn ringing a bell to celebrate last year’s state championship. The team captured their second straight title, and the coach assured those in attendance that they were going to try to make it three in a row next spring.

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