Feast of Blessed Basil Moreau to be celebrated at Friday Mass

Author: Michael O. Garvey

Blessed Basil Moreau, C.S.C.

The feast of Blessed Basil Moreau, C.S.C., founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross, will be celebrated Friday (Jan. 20) at 5:15 p.m. with a Mass in the University of Notre Dame’s Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

During the Mass, Joseph Russo, director of student financial strategies at Notre Dame, will receive a 2011 Spirit of Holy Cross Award.

Joseph Russo

The annual Spirit of Holy Cross Award recognizes laypeople who exemplify Blessed Basil Moreau’s vision and chosen mission “to make God known, loved and served” in the ministries of Holy Cross, Notre Dame’s founding religious order. Russo, who has worked in Notre Dame’s financial aid office for 33 years, will be honored for his longstanding commitment “to make a quality, Catholic education accessible to all eligible students.”

Father Moreau, the 19th century French churchman and founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross, was beatified in a ceremony in Le Mans, France, in 2007.