Red Mass honors four in legal field

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

Why are red vestments worn when black-robed judges are honored? And why do judges wear black?
The homilist for this year’s Red Mass addressed these questions by exploring the symbolism of the two colors, comparing judges and priests, and talking about both professions in light of God and law.
Father Nathan J. Ricci, vice chancellor for the Diocese of Providence and adjunct professor of canon law at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, preached at the 64th annual Red Mass that Bishop McManus celebrated Sunday at St. Paul Cathedral.
The St. Thomas More Society of Worcester County, founded on personal qualities of this former chancellor of England, sponsors this Mass to honor judges, lawyers and others working in the legal field. The Mass is named for the color of vestments worn by celebrants, and by judges attending the King’s bench in Westminster, England.
But judges in the United States wear black, thanks to a precedent that Chief Justice John Marshall initiated in 1801, Father Ricci said. He said scarlet or red convey regal privilege and power, while black is a sober color which the chief justice saw as fitting for one who “adjudicates … independent of any crown.”
Like judges, priests wear black, because “we’re not meant to stand out, but stand behind,” Father Ricci said. Priests stand behind Christ, calling attention to God, not themselves. Black also represents death, and priests die to themselves in offering their lives for Christ and his Church.
Similarly, judges stand behind the law, which they do not create, and die to self so the law can take center stage and give birth to justice, Father Ricci said.
Priests and jurists join together at the Red Mass, he said; red stands for the sovereignty of God, who is just and gave human beings the law out of love and for their good.
People today perceive the law as a necessary evil that stands against freedom, Father Ricci said. He said his listeners, however, love the law, knowing that, ideally, it serves justice and gives people a better life. God gave human beings a share in the law to help them be free and to reach happiness in this world and the next, he noted.
No one stands above the law, Father Ricci said. Law divorced from justice can be deadly and law should be tempered with mercy. Priests share God’s mercy in the confessional; judges and lawyers are to show fairness in the courtroom.
Turning to the day’s Gospel, Father Ricci noted that Jesus gave Zacchaeus a second chance, but didn’t exonerate him from paying back what he owed others.
Jesus came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it through mercy, Father Ricci said. We are all sinners, not saviors, which black garb shows; Jesus purchased our salvation by shedding his blood. Thus, red vestments signify God’s love. And St. Paul said, “Law finds its fulfillment in love.”
At the Red Mass Bishop McManus conferred the Distinguished Judicial Officer Award on Charles King, assistant clerk magistrate, East Brookfield District Court; the Msgr. F. Stephen Pedone Distinguished Attorney Award on John J. Spillane, Spillane & Spillane, Worcester; the Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan Ecumenical Award on Laura Traiger, Worcester; and the Distinguished Catholic Layperson Award on Francis Rourke, assistant chief probation officer, Worcester District Court.
This year’s scholarship was given to Faith Adam who is a parishioner of St. Mary’s Parish in Uxbridge.  Ms. Adam graduated from the University of Alabama in 2021 with a 4.0 GPA and is in her second year at the University of Alabama Law School.
Biographical information for the award winners follows.
DISTINGUISHED JUDICIAL OFFICER AWARD

Charles B. King was appointed as an Assistant Clerk in the East Brookfield District Court in 2001 and has served there for 21 years. Prior to his service in the Massachusetts Trial Court, Mr. King held various posts within the executive branch of state government. Most notably he was Deputy Chief Secretary and Director of Community Affairs under Gov. Paul Cellucci.
Mr. King is a graduate of Nichols College in Dudley. A native of that  town, he grew up immersed in parish life at St. Louis Church in  Webster. As a school-aged boy, Mr. King served as an altar server, often volunteering for wedding and funeral Masses. His life has been heavily influenced by his uncle, the late Father Charles Dutram, who encouraged him to attend Marianapolis Preparatory School in Thompson, Connecticut. He graduated from there in 1979.
While Mr. King remains an active member of St. Louis Church, he also has immersed himself in spiritual life at Marianapolis.
 
MSGR. F. STEPHEN PEDONE DISTINGUISHED ATTORNEY AWARD
 
Attorney John J. Spillane of Worcester is a partner in the law firm of Spillane & Spillane. A graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and Suffolk University School of Law, he has been a member of the Massachusetts bar since 1993. He is a member of the Worcester County Bar Association and the Massachusetts Bar Association and is admitted to practice in the United States District Court for Massachusetts, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Attorney Spillane is chairman of the Anna Maria College Board of Trustees, and was a co-chairman of the 2012 diocesan Partners in Charity campaign. He is a past president of the Worcester Club, the Worcester Economic Club, the Mohegan Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and the Worcester Young Businessmen’s Association. Attorney Spillane is also a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jersusalem.
John and his wife, Christina, reside in Worcester and are the proud parents of a son and a daughter. They are members of Immaculate Conception Parish.
 
BISHOP BERNARD J. FLANAGAN ECUMENICAL AWARD

Attorney Laura Silver Traiger of Worcester is a cum laude graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Suffolk University Law School. A member of the bar since 1996, she is a partner at Starr Traiger, where she focuses on legal issues facing older and disabled clients.
 Attorney Traiger is a member of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, serving as its president in 2017. She is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association and the Worcester County Bar Association, where she previously served as co-chair of the Probate Committee. She has also volunteered at Elder Services of Worcester, the Elder Law Project and the Women’s Bar Foundation.
She is a long-time member of Congregation Beth Israel, where she served as director of the teen youth program for many years and has been involved in fund raising for the congregation and the Jewish Community Center.
 Laura and her husband, Richard, live in Worcester and are the proud parents of three children: Shari, Julia and Kayla.
 
 DISTINGUISHED CATHOLIC LAYPERSON

For more than 50 years Frank Rourke has served at the Massachusetts Trial Court. Mr. Rourke currently serves as an Assistant Chief Probation Officer for the Worcester District Court, one of the busiest divisions in the state. He is the longest-tenured employee in the Massachusetts Probation Service and is well known among his colleagues and the bar for his kind-hearted and pastoral approach to the job.  
Mr. Rourke is a graduate of St. John’s High School and Worcester State University. He is a native of Worcester and still resides at the home he grew up in, the Vernon Hill section of the city. Mr. Rourke is a life-long member of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish (now Sacred Heart - St. Catherine of Sweden), where the importance of his Catholic faith was instilled in him at a very young age. Mr. Rourke is also a regular communicant at the chapel at St. Vincent Hospital in downtown Worcester.