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One of Richmond’s oldest remaining Catholic church-school combinations, St. Benedict Parish, celebrated its first Mass in a chapel inside Benedictine College — later Benedictine High School — on Sept. 25, 1911. After a $100,000 fund drive, the congregation built and moved into its current building in 1929. St. Benedict Parochial School opened in 1919 under the Benedictine sisters and also is celebrating 92 consecutive years of operation. To commemorate these events, the church will feature a “Mass for Four Voices,” written in 1592 by English madrigalist and composer William Byrd (his great-grand nephew, William Byrd II, founded the city of Richmond). It will be performed by the St. Benedict choir under the direction of master and organist James Dorn. The St. Benedict Roman Catholic Church at 300 N. Sheppard St. celebrates its 100th anniversary with this centenary Mass on Sept. 25 at 11 a.m., officiated by the Rev. James Kauffmann, a direct descendent of William Mayo, the man who originally surveyed the city. The event is free.
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