October 3, 2025 // Bishop

‘The Saints Go Marching In’ to the Coliseum for Annual All-Schools Mass

Clare Hildebrandt

Reporter

On Monday, September 29, Bishop Rhoades was surrounded by saints as he celebrated Mass. It wasn’t saints in heaven, but hundreds of Catholic school students dressed as the saint of their choice.

Every year, the Catholic schools in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend have fourth-grade students research a saint within the Church, spend class time discussing the saints, and then attend Mass dressed in elaborate costumes representing the saint of their choice.

More than 500 kids came through the doors of the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum wearing Dominican habits, priest vestments, shiny battle armor, a doctor’s white coat, and some even had gamer headsets representing the newest saint, St. Carlo Acutis.

Nolan Kaiser, a student at St. John New Haven, was dressed in the brown robes of a friar. He told Today’s Catholic that he chose St. Anthony of Padua as his  saint. “I’m dressed as St. Anthony of Padua because he is a patron of lost articles and I usually lose lots of stuff,” Kaiser admitted.

Brody Carroll, Kaiser’s classmate, was dressed as St. Peter and exclaimed, “St. Peter was the first pope, and he was so close to Jesus. I want to be like him!”

Jackson Moore, a student from St. Charles Borromeo, dressed as St. Bernard of Clairveux. “His feast day is on my birthday, and I’ve always known him because of that. He’s also from France,” Moore informed Today’s Catholic.

Bishop Rhoades expressed delight at seeing the hundreds of students dressed up as saints. As he processed into the Coliseum for Mass, Bishop Dwenger and Bishop Luers choir students sang hymns.

Bishop Rhoades preached to the students on the archangels, as it was their feast. “We believe in the angels. Today, the Church celebrates the feast of three of the great archangels, the chief angels: Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, and Saint Raphael,” he said.

He then invited the students dressed as the three archangels to join him on the stage. A handful of St. Michaels, St. Rapheals, and St. Gabriels made it up to the front.

Bishop Rhoades then asked questions. “Who can tell me about St. Michael?” he asked the students in battle armor. When the students answered correctly, Bishop Rhoades excitedly exclaimed, “Yes! St. Michael protects humans from the devil and protects the Church. He is a defender of the church and all humanity.”

He continued: “Jesus himself spoke about the angels many times and in the Gospel today. The Devil exists and Satan exists, so it’s important that we pray because he wants the Church to fail in its mission. Our mission is the salvation that Jesus brought us.”

Kassie Ripple, fourth-grade teacher at St. Joseph Hessen Cassel, told Today’s Catholic, “I enjoy helping the students find information on their saints. I especially appreciate when there are things that the students find out that they can use to help them in their own lives. The saints are our friends, and I love sharing that with my students.”

She added: “The All Schools Mass always amazes me. It is such a joy to see our Bishop interacting with our fourth-grade saints. His homilies always speak to the children in a way that they can understand and apply to the situations that they face in their lives.”

The annual Mass allows for teachers and students to unite in a common goal, to eventually becoming saints in heaven.

“It is important for our schools to come together and celebrate Mass,” added Ripple. “Celebrating Mass together gives a great sense of community and purpose in the formation of our students’ spiritual lives. It is a great reminder that we are not alone as teachers and that we all have a common goal of helping our students become saints.”

David Maugel, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend, noted the importance of praying together as educators and students. “One of the five marks of a quality Catholic school is community and communion. It is so important that people understand that our prayers are raised up even higher [when we pray in community] than when we do it individually,” he said.

He added: “Every year, the Mass just seems more beautiful with kids representing such a wide variety of the saints. When Bishop talks to them about their saint, we know those nuggets of knowledge about the faith could be the one thing that keeps their faith strong going into adulthood. And so, each one of these events is so important because we know this world can reject Catholicism and Christianity. They always have the knowledge of the saints from this as they grow.”

The All Schools Mass on the South Bend side of the diocese is schedued for Thursday, October 23, at 10:30 a.m. at the Joyce Center.

Clare Hildebrandt is a staff writer for​​ Today’s Catholic