Deacon Donoghue said he could see the reactions on the faces of the recipients as the cardinal presented them with their medal. Some were smiling, some were crying and some had a look of disbelief, he said.

John R. Manuel, who was recognized for work organizing the Filipino Apostolate 12 years ago, said he was surprised when he opened the letter two weeks ago from the cardinal telling him he was receiving the medal.

“I am so proud of him, especially because this is the first time the award has been given,” said Manuel’s wife Belinda.

Meyer Chambers said he was humbled to receive the medal. “Why me? I was standing there in the presence of so many people who have done so much more for the Church than I have.”

Chambers, who is the director of the Boston Black Catholic Choir and is the former director of the Office of Black Catholics, said at a choir rehearsal he called the singers together to tell them that he was selected, but he sees the award as one he received on behalf of all of them.

Another recipient, Brother James Curran, the founder of the Little Brothers of St. Francis said during the Mass he was thinking about the late Cardinal Humberto S. Medeiros, who was the order’s founding bishop and Cardinal William H. O’Connell.

It was for the funeral of Cardinal O’Connell that Brother James made his first visit to the cathedral in 1944, two months after his father, a tailgunner, was shot down over Munich.

Before the Mass ended, the cardinal delivered an Apostolic Blessing. Deacon Donoghue made the proclamation for the congregants to prepare for the blessing, which the cardinal proclaimed in Latin.

The blessing included a plenary indulgence, which grants remission of temporal punishment for sins.

After the Mass, the cardinal hosted a modest reception at the Cathedral High School gymnasium across the street, where he was joined by several of the priests and bishops.

“We have witnessed a great expression of our Catholic faith during the past year,” said Father Robert L. Connors, the director of the Bicentennial Planning Committee and pastor of Dracut’s Saint Marguerite d’Youville and Saint Francis of Assisi Parish.

“As we go forward as an archdiocese we can look back with great joy at what we have accomplished and what blessings are in front of us, reminded of course, that we continue to Journey Together in Christ,” he said.