At the Opening School Mass on Tuesday, August 18, the Mount St. Mary Academy community joined together in the McAuley Center to bless the new school year and officially welcome the MSM Class of 2030 into its sisterhood and House of Mercy.
Comprised of 139 students from more than 20 different schools, the newest class began its journey as Mount sisters in a symbolic way by walking through the school’s historic front gate and then entering the gymnasium, tracing the steps of many students before them and marking the beginning of their Mount journey. As seniors four years from now, they will leave the Closing Prayer Service in the gymnasium on their final day of high school and then exit through the gate.
During Mass, the Class of 2030 also took part in the first of four important traditions experienced by all students at Mount St. Mary: the presentation of the Mercy Cards, which feature the school’s shared Mercy values.
MSM Assistant Head of School Robin Johnson addressed the class after each new student’s name was called to receive her card, reminding them that their Mercy Card was not something to receive lightly or hide in a wallet. “It is important. It represents the mission that you will take on by being a student here at our school,” Dr. Johnson said. “To be compelled by mercy, to have educational courage, to be inspired by faith, to be a principled leader, and to have a voice for the dignity and respect of others.”
During the all-school Mass, the 2026-2027 Eucharistic Ministers were installed and members of this year’s Campus Ministry team received a special blessing. The service ended with another tradition as Student Body President Emerson Chambers ’27 announced this year’s button theme: “Rooted in Mercy.” The special theme, shared by all Mercy schools this year, was chosen by the Sisters of Mercy to celebrate the bicentennial anniversary of the founding of Catherine McAuley’s first House of Mercy in Ireland in 1827. It invites the school communities to reflect on the deep roots that have nourished and sustained the Mercy tradition across generations for 200 years.
“The scripture we chose to go with this year’s theme is Ephesians 3:17…and when we are rooted in love, mercy should naturally grow from us because mercy is love in action,” Emerson said. “At the end of the year, I hope we don’t remember ‘rooted in mercy’ just as our button theme, and instead remember it as something we lived. Something that changed the way we treat people for the better. Because if we are truly rooted in mercy, then love should be what grows.”
