When Monsignor Robert L. Hartnett arrived at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Essex 12 years ago, the neighborhood parish was trying to hold together a surrounding community undergoing great change.

The Sept. 19-21 reunion, sponsored by Mega Millions winner Bernadette Gietka, was the first time many of the graduates had seen each other in decades, and brought back memories of their long-closed school.

Nationally known Christian rock artist Josh Blakesley will perform at the Sept. 28 Immersed in God’s Love event at The John Carroll School in Bel Air. The event will feature an outdoor Mass and a concert with Mr. Blakesley and Jackie Francois. Single tickets are $5 and families pay $20. The event begins at 5:15 p.m.

As the canoe-like boats adorned with dragon heads raced across the water in Hong Kong, Harold A. Smith’s mind drifted back to Baltimore.

When Catholics first gathered for Mass in Hagerstown 250 years ago, they did it in secret. Since English penal laws prohibited them from worshipping publically, Hagerstown Catholics met in family homes and relied on Jesuit circuit riders from Conewago, Pa.