The dignified priesthood of the late Monsignor John F. McDonough was recalled at a Mass at St. Pius X High School March 18. A benefactor of the school during his lifetime, Monsignor McDonough also had asked that memorial contributions be made to the school in his name.

A plaque honoring him and his portrait were blessed at the Mass by Monsignor Edward Dillon, vicar general. The plaque will be installed outside the school chapel and invites future generations of St. Pius students to “prayerfully remember” the late priest “whose generosity, pastoral concern, and ministry to youth advanced the mission of Catholic education” in the archdiocese.

The portrait will be displayed in a conference room, named in Monsignor McDonough’s honor, in the Donnellan Center on the St. Pius campus.

A Bostonian, ordained in 1941, Monsignor McDonough came to the archdiocese of Atlanta in the late 1940s because it was mission territory at the time. A leader throughout his 51 years of priesthood, his quiet, wise counsel was sought out by others who regarded him as the dean of Atlanta priests. He died of cancer in 1992, at the age of 78.

The Mass at the high school focused on vocations to the priesthood and religious life and was attended by the entire student body, and by members of the Serra Clubs and friends of Monsignor McDonough.

While the “final frontier” in the 1990s is space, Father Don Kenny, vocations director of the archdiocese, said that Christians of the apostolic age were challenged by Jesus to spread the Gospel to “a human race that had never known the Son of God and a human race that had never considered the law of love.”

“God may be calling you as a priest, as a sister, as a brother,” Father Kenny told the students.

“Encourage people you think may have a vocation to explore that possibility…Maybe God is not asking you to be a priest or sister, but maybe God is definitely asking you to speak to others.”

Music for the Mass was provided by students in the music ministry, the St. Pius Chorus and the St. Pius Band, directed respectively by Mark Monk-Winstanley, Paul Tate and Bryant Poole.

The Donnellan Center was dedicated in the fall of 1992 and includes the development offices, the conference room, and an athletic facility.

Donald Sasso is principal of the archdiocesan high school, which has a student body of 1,025.