READVILLE -- Matt O'Neil has often heard that God gives his hardest battles to his toughest soldiers. He wasn't sure he was strong enough for this.

In 2021, Matt's father Arthur died of cancer at age 57. Arthur's death shook Matt's faith and made him wonder what he did to deserve such hardship. To cope, he turned to his parish, St. Anne in Readville, and his pastor, Father Joe Mazzone.

"There were days when I wondered how strong I really was," Matt, 32, told The Pilot on Nov. 11, "but again, to have the family that is here, just to walk into the church and know they support you, and to have a pastor like Father Joe who can talk you through those tough days, it's something special."

Matt and his mother Anne, who was married to Arthur for 34 years, used volunteering as an outlet for their grief.

"Some people like to keep to themselves when something bad happens," Matt said. "I think it's nice to volunteer to honor people who have passed."

When his maternal grandparents died, he volunteered to honor them.

"We are living a legacy that they had," he said.

Anne, 60, recalled how Arthur was a constant presence at events in the parish. Even when he was battling cancer, he would be in the parish kitchen cooking hot dogs for the annual Christmas bazaar.

"You can't just close down," she told The Pilot on Nov. 11. "You need to be around people and continue to live your life in honor of their memory."

Anne and Matt were among the 151 people that received Cheverus Awards in November 2023. The archdiocesan awards honor those who dedicated their lives to serving the church in Boston. Father Mazzone nominated Anne and Matt for the award.

"They have a great devotion to the parish and they are sort of great examples of what a parish can be in the life of a person," he told The Pilot on Oct. 9.

He said that the parish has always been at the center of life for mother and son, and that their service is their way of thanking God.

"It's where they've been comforted in difficult times," he said, "it's where they celebrate the joyful times. It's really shaped them in many ways to be the people that they are."

Anne said she was "humbled and honored" to receive the award.

"I'm the type of person that likes to stay in the background and just do what I do," she said. "I don't look for accolades, but the fact that I was getting to do it with my son just made it that much more special."

"It was special to do with mom, because we do just about every volunteer thing together," Matt said. "If one of us is there, the other one's usually right behind."

Matt was one of the youngest people to receive the Cheverus Award in 2023. He was grateful, but to him, seeing the fruits of his work is praise enough.

"For me, it's seeing people walk in these doors to enjoy the events, enjoy the things that we do here," he said. "That's what my reward is."

Anne is a lifelong resident of Readville and parishioner of St. Anne's. She grew up down the street from the church and currently lives two blocks away. Her mother was the family's anchor of faith, ensuring that Anne attended Mass every Sunday and received all of her sacraments. Both Anne and her son attended the now-closed St. Anne School. When Anne was in third grade, she became one of the first female altar servers in the Archdiocese of Boston.

"Our pastor felt that girls made better altar servers," she said. "He felt they were better prepared, neater, dressed more appropriate."

Like her mother, Anne made sure that Matt and his siblings were at Mass every Sunday. Other families knew not to sit in the O'Neils' preferred pew. Matt was an altar boy in the second grade and occasionally still serves as an altar server and lector. St. Anne's is still his home parish, even though he now works as a high school teacher in Attleboro. He lives there with his wife, who is expecting a child, and their two dogs.

"It gives me more chances to come up here and see mom and do stuff with her," he said. "I think it's fun. We work as a good team. We balance each other well."

They have "the occasional tiff," he said, "but that's going to happen no matter who you work with."

Matt now teaches confirmation prep and uses his story to inspire his students.

"What I tell the kids about my faith when I was younger is that the morals in the way I live today, that were instilled by my mom, were also instilled by the Catholic Church," he said. "I believe that a lot of who I am is because of the values that the Catholic Church gives to its people."

"It makes me feel very proud that I was able to do that," Anne said.

Both she and her son taught confirmation prep when they were in high school. Anne returned to confirmation prep after graduating from college. She volunteered because she wanted to give back.

"That's how things continue," she said. "Each generation needs to step up and volunteer."

She was a eucharistic minister, served on the St. Anne's school board, and is a current member of the parish council. She and her son established Lenten fish fries at the parish in 2019, and continued to do so during the pandemic with "drive-by fish fries."

"People place their order, they pull up, we hand them fish, and they go on their merry way," Matt explained.

For the O'Neils, the crown jewel of their volunteering is the annual Christmas bazaar. Parents of St. Anne's students used to do the bulk of the work organizing the bazaar, because they were required to do 40 hours of service for the parish. When the school closed, the extra help was gone and the bazaar closed down for several years. Anne and Matt helped to restore it, and still organize it to this day.

"It's that generational tradition to see my mom work so hard for the community," Matt said. "I wanted to be a part of that. I also thought that it was kind of cool."

He began helping his mother at the bazaar when he was in high school.

"It was cool to feel like you got to be a part of something bigger," he said.

Anne said the bazaar is a homecoming for generations of people who grew up in the parish. Her godmother is 93 and still volunteers for it. One of her schoolteachers comes to Readville from Cape Cod to attend the bazaar each year.

"It's not just a church," she said. "We are a family and always have been. So, to see everyone come back, it's really heartwarming to know that we helped restart it."