Red Mass set to honor workers in the legal profession

Tapping into the church’s history of honoring and praying for workers in various professions, the Diocese of Sioux City, Bishop John E. Keehner and the Cathedral Parish in Sioux City are planning a Red Mass for attorneys, judges, lawmakers and those working in the legal profession.
 
Bishop Keehner will preside at a Nov. 18 Red Mass at 5:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Epiphany, which is open to the public. All are invited to a reception in the Epiphany Center afterward.
 
Historically, such liturgies were named Red Masses because the color red represents the Holy Spirit. Depending upon the date selected, red vestments might be worn by celebrating clergy.
 
“In (Washington,) D.C., the Red Mass is traditionally done at the beginning of the legislative year to ask for the Holy Spirit’s intercession over legislators,” explained Father David Esquiliano, rector of the Cathedral and pastor of the Cathedral Parish.
 
The Mass honoring lawyers originated hundreds of years ago in Rome, Paris and London, according to the John Carroll Society in the Archdiocese of Washington. At that time, royal judges also wore red robes to the Mass. The official opening of the judicial year of the Holy See’s tribunal, the Roman Rota, was also kicked off with a Red Mass.
 
It is important to offer a Mass for the legal profession due to the importance and difficulty of their work, the priest explained.
 
“One of the best things we can do as a church is pray,” he said. “Prayer is ingrained in our being as Christians. We pray for those who need it the most. We do agree that we need fair laws and fair execution of those laws, and we pray for those involved in that field.”