On Mother’s Day, May 8, 2022, Archbishop Leonard Blair blessed the Mothers’ Garden and Donor Pavilion (also known as “In Honor of the Ones We Love”) plaques on the west lawn of the Cathedral of Saint Joseph. The plaques are inscribed with the names of mothers and other loved ones, as well as the names of the donors who honored or memorialized them. The plaques were installed last year as part of the Archdiocese’s Forward with Faith campaign under The Hartford Bishops’ Foundation (HBF).

More than 60 guests attended the noon ceremony, held after the 11 a.m. Mass in the Cathedral, in which the Archbishop blessed the grounds and plaques with holy water after he prayed for the inscribed names. HBF General Chair James C. Smith, HBF Regional Chair John (Jamie) Kalamarides, and Bishop Juan Miguel Betancourt participated in the blessing.

After the blessing, Dr. Ezequiel Menendez presented the Schola Cantorum, led by choirmaster Meredith Neumann.

Guests were treated to refreshments, a flower for each mother, and a commemorative gift after the choir performed.

HBF plans to host a Mothers’ Garden blessing in 2023 for the new names of loved ones shared with us by donors through our Forward with Faith campaign.

For more information on this campaign, please email william.mclean@aohct.org.

This fall, in September, HBF hosts two fundraising events, a golf classic on Sept. 27 and a wine festival on Sept. 25, to support the renovation of Cathedral Hall, a space on the lower level of the Cathedral of Saint Joseph, adjacent to the Mothers’ Garden.

For more information on the Cathedral Hall project, please visit: hartfordbishopsfoundation.org/cathedral-hall.

To register for the golf and/or wine events, please visit:

hartfordbishopsfoundation.org/the-2022-ct-golf-classic or

hartfordbishopsfoundation.org/wine-fest-2022.