Jan. 24, 2014

The Catholic University of America (CUA) and Dominican House of Studies, in association with the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA), will celebrate National Catholic Schools Week at the annual University Mass in honor of St. Thomas Aquinas, which will be broadcast live on EWTN.

The Mass will be held Tuesday, Jan. 28, in the Great Upper Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception at 12:10 p.m.

The annual University Mass traditionally has been celebrated by a Dominican priest. This year's celebrant will be Very Rev. John A. Langlois, O.P., president of pontifical faculty of the Dominican House of Studies. The homilist will be Rev. Thomas Petri, O.P., vice president and academic dean of pontifical faculty.

This marks the second time that Catholic University has invited the NCEA to join in this Mass. Students from Archbishop Carroll High School and St. Anthony Catholic School, both near the CUA campus, as well as DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md., are expected to participate.

National Catholic Schools Week, founded in 1974, is a joint project of NCEA and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.