Students will attend the first Mass of the school year on Sept. 11 from 10:05 to 11:45 a.m., with the seniors gathering in the Welch Activity Center and the freshmen, sophomores and juniors on the football field.

These gatherings will be a bit unlike Masses in previous years. Restrictions on event capacity have stifled traditions. Campus Minister Mrs. Sara Bozzelli-Levine said in an email, “We usually have an all-school Mass to come together and to welcome new students at the first of the year. This year is different in many ways.”

Fr. Jeff Godecker will celebrate Mass for the Class of 2021. “The senior Mass will also be an opportunity for a memorial for Mario Montel McCullough, who tragically died this year,” Bozzelli-Levine wrote.

Mass for the freshmen, sophomores and juniors will be given by Fr. Dennis A. Strach on the football field. Strach serves as the associate director of vocations for the United States Province of Priests and Brothers for the Congregation of Holy Cross and has visited the school before. After saying Mass, he will hold a luncheon and offer advice on discernment, inviting students to consider the undergraduate seminary at Notre Dame.

Both Masses will have musical accompaniment and will occur at the same time on Sept. 11.