The Brother Martin Class of 2024 received their senior rings on Thursday, August 24th, at St. Dominic Catholic Church in New Orleans. This liturgy celebrates the kick-off to our Crusaders’ senior year and represents the rich tradition of Brother Martin High School.

The Senior Ring Mass reminds our students that they are integral to carrying on the rich tradition passed on by the many men who have ventured forth from the halls of St. Aloysius, Cor Jesu, and Brother Martin High School.

After an inspiring homily by our Mass Officiant, Fr. Tony Rigoli, our Principal Ryan Gallagher ‘00 offered a moving reflection before the seniors received their rings:

”Good evening. I ask each of you here tonight – students, parents, and guardians, to reflect back five, six, or seven years ago, to how you were greeted if you attended Open House at Brother Martin High School. You might recall the greeting you heard upon arriving in the Branton Chapel at the start of the Open House.

Welcome Home.

I greet our prospective students and their families in this way every year at Open House because that is the same way that I was greeted as a prospective student by Brother Jean Sobert when I attended Open House in November of 1994.

Welcome Home.

At some point, each and every one of us gathered here tonight was invited to be a part of the Brother Martin family – to make this school our home. Tonight is special, in part, because everyone gathered in this church was open to that invitation, to that call home. That invitation at Open House, at the onset of your career as students on Elysian Fields, was at the time an invitation to a relationship – a relationship based entirely on hope. Once you answered that call of hope, we began to implant tiny seeds of trust within that relationship between you, our students, and us, our school. As you enter your Senior year, your final year as a student at Brother Martin, our relationship has changed yet again: From one based entirely on hope, to one populated with appropriate measures of trust, to a relationship now grounded in trust and faith… in you.

The ring you will receive in just a few minutes is a tangible symbol of our changing relationship. It is a tangible manifestation of our growing trust in you.

When you receive your ring tonight, grab hold of the opportunity. Place that ring on your finger every day, and let it serve as your reminder to answer the call, the challenge, and the opportunity every day to lead our school community regardless of the obstacles you’ll face, those yet seen and unknown. Embrace the call to leadership. Lean into your place in our history.  

Your senior ring is a preliminary step toward our changing relationship – one more closely aligned with this notion of partnership. My prayer for each of you is that, beginning tonight and for the rest of your lives, it also serves as a compass that points you home.”