As is our tradition at the University of Notre Dame, let us begin with prayer.
Brendan Bell gives the invocation
Loving God, we pray in thanksgiving for all those who have been instrumental in allowing us to be here this Commencement Day. We ask You to bless our families and friends, who provide unconditional support and show faith in us. We ask You to bless the faculty, staff, Holy Cross religious, rectors, campus ministers and administrators at the University of Notre Dame, whose zeal for educating the whole person so deeply affects our way of viewing ourselves and the world around us. And we ask You to bless all those members of the Notre Dame family, both near and far, living and deceased, as we are constantly reminded of the ways that they continue to impact our lives.
Oh Loving God, with our beloved Father Theodore Hesburgh, we pray that you send down upon us your Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit — today and every day, so that we may be constantly aware of Your love in every facet of our lives. Come Holy Spirit as a reminder that we have the opportunity to see Your light in every human encounter. Come Holy Spirit, that we may have the courage to confront the challenges in today’s world: poverty, hunger, lack of education and all other forms of injustice. Come Holy Spirit, that we may be witnesses to Your truth and love. Come Holy Spirit, that we may constantly listen and discern Your vocation for each one of us, and have the courage to respond to that calling.
We ask all this, through the intercession of Your Mother and Our Lady, that like Her we may make You known, loved and served through Christ our Lord. Amen.