Here are some great photographs from Saturday’s “Rose Mass” at Saint Francis of Assisi in Ann Arbor, which was offered by Bishop Earl Boyea in thanksgiving for the work and witness of Catholic healthcare workers across the Diocese of Lansing.
“I just cannot express enough how much I appreciate that Bishop Boyea came here to be present with us, and to remind us of how important the practice of medicine is to us as Catholics — it’s incredible,” said Dr. Maria Skoczylas, clinical associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan.
The Rose Mass has taken place annually within the Diocese of Lansing since 2016. It is organized by the Catholic Medical Association of Lansing. Amid the congregation at Saint Francis were approximately 60 to 70 healthcare workers drawn from local hospitals and beyond.
“I think it's important that Catholic physicians band together because without supporting each other we can't survive or thrive in trying to build a culture of life when the wider culture is so opposed to it,” said Dr. Daniel Benz, a specialist in internal medicine who is currently working a state-operated inpatient psychiatric facility in Westland.
The Rose Mass intentionally occurs on the fourth Sunday of Lent, which is known as “Laetare Sunday”— laetare being the Latin word for “rejoice”— when the clerical celebrants are permitted to wear rose vestments as a hopeful halfway mark during the more austere, purple Lenten season.
“This is the first time I've actually come to the Rose Mass,” explained Monica Orians, who works at the University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center.
“It was amazing. The Lord is always amazing. He calls us. I have been in healthcare for 45 years, and it has been such a personal experience—and the Lord has been with me the whole time.”
At the conclusion of Holy Mass, those medical workers present swore the Hippocratic Oath, the ancient affirmation by which physicians swear to practice medicine in an ethical way, including upholding the sanctity of life at all stages.
“That moment is a highlight of this occasion for me,” said Dr. William "Rusty" Chavey, a family physician with Emmaus Health, who is also a co-organizer of the annual Rose Mass.
“It is a time for all the healthcare professionals to restate the principles that are so important to us, and also to do it in front of everybody else, so that they can see and hear what the Catholic healthcare professionals in this diocese are taking an oath to.”
