Red Mass honors The Honorable Brian Martinotti, celebrates all members of the legal profession (Photos)
Seton Hall University School of Law held its 39th Red Mass Celebration on Friday, Sept. 29, at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
Auxiliary Bishop Elias R. Lorenzo, O.S.B., D.D., was the principal celebrant and homilist at the Mass, in honor of all members of the legal profession.
The Mass honored The Honorable Brian Martinotti, a United States district judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey appointed by Barack Obama, and a former New Jersey State judge. He was a Seton Hall graduate class of 1986.
Martinotti received the St. Thomas More Medal at the end of the Mass. Thomas More was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and best known as Lord High Chancellor of England during Henry VIII’s reign.
Steven Llanes, general counsel for the Archdiocese of Newark, and an alum of Seton Hall Law School, was among the members of the legal community who attended the Red Mass.
“This year’s Seton Hall Red Mass was a wonderful celebration,” Llanes said. “Bishop Lorenzo’s homily was an inspiring message to the legal community on the life and service of St. Thomas More, whose commitment to justice is a model for all to strive toward. It was a pleasure to attend on behalf of the Archdiocese of Newark, and we congratulate honoree Judge Martinotti and thank him for his service and leadership.”
The first recorded Red Mass was celebrated in the Cathedral of Paris in 1245. According to the St. Thomas More Society, it then spread to most European countries.
The tradition of honoring those in the law profession was picked up in England around 1310 at Westminster Abbey at the opening of the Michaelmas term.
The first U.S. Red Mass was celebrated at Old St. Andrew’s Church in New York City in October 1928, according to the St. Thomas More Society website.
Today, over 25 cities in the United States celebrate the Red Mass each year, including at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C. It is attended by Justices of the Supreme Court, members of Congress, the diplomatic corps, the Cabinet, and other government departments, and sometimes, the President, according to the St. Thomas More Society. It is in honor of all members of the legal profession regardless of religious affiliation.
It is called the Red Mass because traditionally, the celebrant and the high justices wore scarlet, and university professors wore their red academic gowns. That tradition continued at the Basilica with Bishop Lorenzo and concelebrants wearing scarlet, and Mass attendees also donning red.
PHOTOS BY SEAN SIME/ SETON HALL
