Jesuit High Celebrates Baccalaureate Mass At Sacred Heart

TAMPA, FL – Sacred Heart Catholic Church and Jesuit High School reunited for one night for the school’s Baccalaureate Mass.

It was the first time in 55 years Jesuit High School held its end-of-year Mass at the downtown Tampa church on Monday, May 22.

“Since Jesuit High School began there in 1899, and we were originally called College of the Sacred Heart, this was like a homecoming for us,” said Father Richard Hermes, the president of Jesuit High School.

Jesuit moved its Class of 2017 Baccalaureate Mass because the school’s new, on-campus Chapel of the Holy Cross is under construction. The chapel is being built on the site of the school’s former chapel, St. Anthony’s Chapel, located at its 4701 N. Himes Ave. campus.

Hermes said the friars and staff at Sacred Heart graciously accepted Jesuit’s request to hold its Baccalaureate Mass at the church.

“Some of our graduates are parishioners there or attend Mass at Sacred Heart with their families, so it was especially meaningful to them,” he said.

Jesuit High School was founded in downtown Tampa six years before the Jesuit Order completed the adjacent Sacred Heart Church, the oldest Catholic church on Florida’s west coast. From 1912 through 1962, Jesuit celebrated its Baccalaureate Mass at Sacred Heart before moving it to St. Anthony’s Chapel.

“For the first 60 years of Jesuit’s existence, all our Masses and religious ceremonies, including Baccalaureate Masses, were held in Sacred Heart,” Hermes said. “Grandfathers and great-grandfathers of some of this year’s class would have graduated from there or served Mass there. It was an emotional evening of connection to the school’s history and tradition.”

The Chapel of the Holy Cross is expected to be completed in early 2018.

Jesuit High School Graduation

Jesuit High School celebrated its graduating Class of 2017 on Tuesday, May 23 at the Straz Center in downtown Tampa. The graduating class featured 173 students in the school’s 118th year.

Of the graduates, 155 received academic, athletic or service scholarships, while 138 received Florida Bright Futures Scholarships. The total scholarship value of the Class of 2017 exceeded $18.1 million. All 173 students were accepted into college, with 171 colleges and service academies accepting Jesuit students in 2017.

Four special awards, determined by a vote of the faculty, are presented at Jesuit’s graduation each year. The recipients are commemorated on the Men for Others monument on campus. The 2017 winners were:

• Jack Knipe – Charles J. Lashley Award for outstanding characteristics of leadership of the student body, the highest honor Jesuit confers on a graduating senior
• Chris Kambach – Larion J. Elliot Award for dedication and commitment to Christ and the Church through the example of his Christian life
• Chandler Rodriguez – Pedro Arrupe Award excelling as a “Man for Others” through distinguished achievement in community service
• Jack Henry Nouss – Joseph P. Gavin Award for outstanding generosity and dependability in service to the school community.

The Class of 2017 continued one of the school’s earliest traditions by wearing a classic tuxedo to the graduation ceremony. The students wore their traditional cap and gown the night before at the Baccalaureate Mass.

Images courtesy of Jesuit High School