By Christina Leslie | Correspondent

A living memorial to an order of religious which had served a Princeton worship community for over 130 years was opened with a prayer and a snip of a giant pair of scissors Sept. 24, the feast of Our Lady of Mercy.

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The clergy, teachers and students of St. Paul School joined together to celebrate Mass, marking the opening of the school year, and inaugurated their new Mercy Center for Learning preschool named for the Sisters of Mercy who had taught generations of St. Paul students.

St. Paul Parish pastor, Msgr. Joseph N. Rosie, served as principal celebrant of the Mass; concelebrating were parochial vicars, Father Michael T. McClane and Father Miguel Valle. In attendance were Sisters of Mercy from the order’s Mid-Atlantic community. Present from the diocese were JoAnn Tier, superintendant of Catholic schools; Dr. Margaret Boland, associate superintendent of schools, and Cynthia Casciola-Kitts, associate director for elementary schools.

The student body of St. Paul School preceded the clergy into the church, each class carrying banners they had made which symbolized the gifts they received from God. The artwork made from construction paper, flannel, paint, yarn, even paper plates, some taller than the students who carried them, were placed along the altar rail as the choir sang the “Mercy Day” song.

In his homily, Msgr. Rosie thanked the long service of the Sisters of Mercy in the parish school, and commended the schoolchildren for their banners which stretched along the Communion rail. “They say a lot of what we want to be all about,” the priest stated. “I asked [parochial vicars] Father Michael and Father Miguel to make their own banner, but they decided their illustration of thanks for what God had given them were you students.”

He reminded the students that education also took place outside their school next door. “We all have individual classrooms that we go to, but this church of St. Paul is another classroom where Jesus, the Great Teacher, is with us,” the pastor said. “We created something great and wonderful at St. Paul’s.”

Just before the final blessing, the preschool students marched up the center aisle of the church and took their place before the altar. Their young voices rang out as they sang “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” complete with hand gestures and adapted lyrics which declared, “God has made us what we are.”

Stepping out into the crisp fall morning, the students, teachers, administrators and guests filled the courtyard of the new preschool wing which was festooned with yellow and blue balloons and a giant blue ribbon stretched across the entrance. As the audience extended their hands in blessing, Msgr. Rosie, St. Paul School principal Ryan Killeen, and the visiting Mercy Sisters snipped the blue ribbon and declared the preschool officially opened.

“It’s so exciting to have a new home for our four-year-olds,” said Killeen, referring to the renovated classrooms located in what was once the convent’s basement. The Mercy Center’s 35 enrolled full and part-time pre-school students are instructed by two certified teachers and two assistant teachers in two classrooms now adjacent to the kindergarten and fully integrated into the main school by an enclosed hallway.

A capital campaign which began last fall raised about $1.4 million for St. Paul Parish church and school improvements, including the preschool; construction on the preschool began in February.

Tier expressed her delight at the dedication of the Mercy Center for Learning and declared, “A new adventure of discovery and learning begins for youngest members of the student body.”