Bishop Soto to celebrate Red Mass
Oct. 8 at cathedral
By Herald staff
The Diocese of Sacramento and the St. Thomas More Society of Sacramento, an independent organization of Catholic lawyers in the Sacramento area and an affiliate of the Sacramento County Bar Association, will co-sponsor the annual Red Mass on Oct. 8 at 5 p.m. in the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento.
Coadjutor Bishop Jaime Soto will be the celebrant and homilist.
Attorneys, judges, elected and appointed officials and all those working in the legal system or involved in the process of government in the five-county Sacramento region are invited to attend the Mass.
The Red Mass is the popular name for the Mass of the Holy Spirit, in which God’s blessings are invoked upon all those working in civil or canon law. The liturgy’s red vestments, symbolizing tongues of fire, give the name to this 800-year-old Catholic tradition which gathers together all members of the legal community, Catholic and non-Catholic alike.
The Mass of the Holy Spirit was first celebrated in the cathedral of Paris in 1215, spreading to other European countries and to England by 1310. In those centuries, members of the legal profession attending the Mass wore their own robes of office, which were also red. In the United States, the Red Mass is traditionally celebrated the Sunday before the new Supreme Court session begins.
Following the Mass, the Diocese of Sacramento will host a dinner event at the Sutter Club, at which Deputy District Attorney Rita Spillane will receive the St. Thomas More award and Bishop William K. Weigand will be honored for 15 years of dedicated ministry in the Diocese of Sacramento.
Tickets for the St. Thomas More award dinner are $75 each. For reservations, call Jessica Miller at (916) 753-1300.
