The Ultimate Sacrifice

May 20

Every Memorial Day, veterans, families, friends, students, and honored guests gather outside the front lawn of Father Judge High School in Northeast Philadelphia. They gather to remember all those who gave their lives in service to the nation, but especially to honor and pray for the "Father Judge 27." The"27" signifies the number of graduates of Father Judge High School who lost their lives serving in the Vietnam War. This casualty count is higher than that of any other private or Catholic high school in the United States.

Close up of the FJHS war memorial depicting Michelangelo's "Pieta."

A large granite monument serves as a memorial to the young men who gave their lives. It stands directly in front of the school's main entrance. On holidays and special occasions, flowers and flags are placed around the area. The names of the young men who gave their lives in Vietnam are written into the granite. The Memorial lists the names of each graduate who gave his life. The center of the shrine features a carving of Michelangelo's Pieta with the inscription from the Gospel of John (15:3): “Greater love hath no man than this, than to lay down his life for his friends.”

The school maintains a deep, ongoing commitment to honoring these fallen alumni, who graduated between 1960 and 1968. Incoming students are educated on the history of the "27". Before every game, the football team visits the monument to pray, and the number 27 is woven into the school's culture and sports uniforms to symbolize their sacrifice.

Click on video to see highlights of last year’s Memorial Day celebration at Father Judge.

The word "oblate" comes from the Latin word oblatus, meaning offered. For the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, we offer ourselves to God each day. We offer our prayers, our works, our joys, and our sufferings.

Since the founding of the school in 1954, the young men of Father Judge have offered their school duties and daily lives to God by conducting themselves in a manner most pleasing to the Lord. They learn about St. Francis de Sales and how he wrote more on the topic of friendship than any other saint.

They experienced what it meant to give themselves to God and to neighbor through the example of the gentle saint and the Direction of Intention prayer. The Salesian gentlemen from the 1960s not only learned all of this, but they also lived it.

As we celebrate and remember this weekend, let us also pray for and recall those Salesians who made the ultimate sacrifice.

May they rest in peace.