RICHMOND, VA – Benedictine High School Headmaster Father Gregory Gresko, OSB today addressed an assembly of the Corps of Cadets, faculty, staff and families of the school to share the news that the 71st Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Honorable Robert F. McDonnell, graciously has agreed to deliver the Commencement Address to the graduating Class of 2010 during ceremonies on Friday, June 4, 2010.
Joining Governor McDonnell for the graduation festivities will be His Excellency, the Most Reverend Francis Xavier DiLorenzo, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, and other ecclesiastical dignitaries.
“It is a tremendous honor that Governor McDonnell will come to Benedictine as we prepare for our 100th anniversary year, joining us in celebrating the great contributions our beloved school has made over the past century educating generations of young men into virtuous citizens of the Commonwealth and beyond,” Fr. Gregory shared. “The eyes of all Virginia Catholics will be on Benedictine as it shines as a beacon for Christian education into its next century, forming Richmond’s students for both life and eternal life.”
“It is an honor to welcome Governor McDonnell to Benedictine for Commencement. Given the Governor’s own formative experiences at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria and as a college ROTC student, he is admirably suited to address the graduating cadet class,” stated Delegate Lee Ware, a Benedictine Board member and colleague of Governor McDonnell during his earlier tenure in the Virginia House of Delegates.
Benedictine’s 2010 Commencement exercises will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the school’s Memorial Gymnasium (admission by ticket only).
A copy of Father Gregory’s prepared remarks is attached.
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Remarks of Benedictine High School Headmaster Father Gregory Gresko, OSB to Corps of Cadets, Families and Friends Announcing Governor Bob McDonnell as 2010 Commencement Speaker
Dear Benedictine Cadets, parents, faculty, staff, administration, alumni, and friends!
I thank you for gathering together this afternoon so that I may share news with you that is truly exciting for the entire Benedictine family. We come together today much as assemblies throughout the past nearly one hundred years have done, seeking always to sustain and deepen the dignity, honor, and virtue that our beloved Benedictine has come to represent over the ages as Virginia’s only Catholic military educational institution.
Since the founding of our School in 1911, generations of young boys have grown up to become some of the finest gentlemen Richmond has to offer. Benedictine High School has formed thousands upon thousands of men who, upon graduation, have gone onward to contribute significantly locally, statewide, nationally, and internationally in their respective fields of expertise as clergy (priests and religious both!), teachers, military officers and servicemen, doctors, lawyers, businessmen, and civil servants across a breadth of other important disciplines that contribute to the common social good.
Today, I am most excited to announce to you happy news concerning the graduation speaker at Benedictine High School’s upcoming Commencement exercises. The 71st Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Honorable Robert F. McDonnell, graciously has agreed to deliver the Commencement Address to the graduating Class of 2010 during ceremonies on Friday, June 4, 2010.
Joining Governor McDonnell for the graduation festivities will be His Excellency, the Most Reverend Francis Xavier DiLorenzo, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, as well as other ecclesiastical dignitaries.
It is a tremendous honor that Governor McDonnell will come to Benedictine as we prepare for our 100th anniversary year, joining us in celebrating the great contributions our beloved school has made over the past century educating generations of young men into virtuous citizens of the Commonwealth and beyond. The eyes of all Virginia Catholics will be on Benedictine as it shines as a beacon for Christian education into its next century, forming Richmond’s students for both life and eternal life.
Thank you for your kind attention, and have a very pleasant afternoon.
Contact: Noreen Borter
(804) 784-3508
nborter@richmondmonks.org