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Commencement address given by Mrs. Patricia Gatti.
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St Brendan’s Final GraduationJune 8, 2023Thank you for inviting me to witness the graduation of the Class of 2023 and the opportunity to speak to the 107th class to graduate from St Brendan’s School.Before I became Principal of St. Brendan’s in 1996, I was both a Social Studies teacher and a Religion teacher. With that in mind,I would like to share with you the seldom acknowledged theory that Christopher Columbus Did NOT discover America. Rather, it was discovered by our Patron saint, Brendan the Navigator. This long-debated theory was given life by none other than National Geographic magazine in 1977. The Brendan Voyages took place in the 6th century AD, 500 years before Leif Erickson and 1000 years before Christopher Columbus set sail. From Brendan’s discovery sprang the history of the new world with its explorers, conquerors, developing nations, wars, slavery, technological advances and manufacturing genius.The world as we know it owes a debt of gratitude to St Brendan, a navigator, priest, explorer and adventurer.Here in our little section of the Bronx, our school, named for St Brendan, was started as a response to the Irish immigrant Catholic Community. Parents wanted a school to help educate their children in their beloved Catholic faith and as a way to help their children assimilate into American Society. And so, the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill arrived in the Bronx around 1914 and began teaching a handful of little children in the basement of the original Church. St Brendan’s School was born. The school grew quickly and within a few years the building that we know opened and became one of the finest Catholic Schools in New York.The rest, as they say, is history.Even as the Principal, I learned a lot at St Brendan’s. The first thing I learned was the school environment is a reflection of its leader. I was blessed to work with Msgr. Patrick Boyle, who was a priest and Pastor at St. Brendan’s for almost 30 years. He was a model of compassion, intelligence and faith. He remains an Icon and influenced the lives of 3 generations of families.I had the privilege of working with so many devoted and incredible teachers. Many of them are here today ( some still teaching and some happily retired.). They are the unsung heroes of our schools. As the world around us descends in chaos, the teachers are truly the stabilizing force. Thank you for all you do for our children.I am most grateful to have worked alongside my former student, friend and all-around favorite person, your Principal, Ms. Michele Pasquale.You all know her: tough, fair, smart. And you all know not to mess with her.I would like to end with a fun fact. While there are multiple schools in the Archdiocese of NY named for St. Patrick, St Joseph, St John, St. Mary, there is only one school named for St. Brendan. Like the Saint himself, the students of St Brendan’s School are unique.And so, it is with both pride and a heavy heart filled with gratitude that we celebrate you — the Class of 2023 and the 107th and final graduating class of the one and only St Brendan’s School.