BOSTON -- Archbishop Richard G. Henning celebrated the Red Mass, an annual tradition for the Catholic Lawyers Guild of the Archdiocese of Boston, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Voyage in Boston's Seaport District on Sept. 21.

It was Archbishop Henning's first time celebrating the Red Mass as Archbishop of Boston. The Red Mass, first celebrated by Cardinal William O'Connell for Boston's Catholic lawyers in 1941, is a tradition that dates back to England during the Middle Ages. The Mass gets its name from the red robes once worn by British judges, and the red vestments worn by clergy during the Solemn Mass of the Holy Spirit.

In his homily at the standing-room-only Mass, Archbishop Henning took the time to eulogize a close friend of his, whose funeral Mass he had recently celebrated back in his former Diocese of Providence -- Judge Frank Caprio, the "nicest judge in the world" who died in August at 88. In his later years, Judge Caprio gained an international audience through the television show "Caught in Providence" and viral social media clips showing his compassion and gentleness as a judge.

Archbishop Henning remembered Judge Caprio as the son of poor Italian immigrants who rose from a childhood in a "cold water flat" to become the first college graduate in his family. When he first became a judge, he invited his father, Antonio, to see his first day on the bench. Antonio shocked his son with the criticism that came out of his mouth.

"I don't know the law, but you're not paying attention to the people in front of you," Antonio said. "These are real people. They have real stories, real suffering. You were not kind. You didn't show compassion for them."

"He learned to appreciate the person in front of him, listen genuinely to their story and to show compassion," Archbishop Henning said. "And of course, this overflowed in the rest of his life and all of his public service. He was a noted man for compassion, for generosity, for kindness, and for leading the way in this regard."

The archbishop said that Judge Caprio had the biggest online following in countries with a much harsher justice system.

"I know that Judge Caprio certainly affected me, and I will always remember his example and the way in which he lived his faith, sort of transparently, without beating people over the head with it," he said. "He wasn't evangelizing in the courtroom, but it was his very manner of life and of work that showed to other people that faith and that family that was at his heart."

He said that Judge Caprio is an example of how, even in the secular role of lawyer, Catholics "still have to be who we are."

"I'm so grateful to you for being present here, in this place, in this moment, because it is a witness to me as the Archbishop of Boston that there are men and women of good will, men and women who are disciples of the Lord Jesus, who are venturing out beyond the realm of the church and into that secular society," he said.

He said that such witness to the faith is especially important in a modern society where religion is treated as a hobby rather than a force animating one's entire life.

"We do find ourselves at a cultural moment, don't we, where it seems that bitterness and divides, anger and angry words, and now painful and awful violence, rends our society, undermines those foundations of natural law and even the consensus that there should be order, that government has to function in a way that is rational and objective," he said.

The archbishop said that, like Judge Caprio, the lawyers at the Red Mass should be humble, filled with faith, and always cognizant of where they came from.

"To work in the law is sometimes to encounter the darker sides of the human heart," he said. "There is a temptation, is there not, to grow cynical. I didn't ever see that in Judge Caprio. He wanted to know people. He wanted to be with people. And so I hope and pray that by that light of the Holy Spirit, you will recognize one of those truths of our faith, that each person you encounter is in some sense an encounter with the Lord himself, an opportunity to do the Lord's own work of compassion and healing."

After Mass, a sea of lawyers, including over 100 law students from colleges and universities across Massachusetts, walked to the nearby Seaport Hotel for the annual Red Mass Brunch.

Attendees each received a prayer card of St. Thomas More, patron saint of lawyers, and they were led in the "Lawyers' Prayer" on the back of the cards by Judicial Vicar Msgr. Robert Oliver, who serves as the liaison between the archdiocese and the Catholic Lawyers Guild.

Guild President Michael K. Gillis posthumously presented the Honorable Joseph R. Nolan Award to Philip D. Moran. The award is named after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Associate Justice who served as president of the Catholic Lawyers Guild from 1995 until his death in 2013. It is annually given to "a member of the legal profession who best exemplifies Justice Nolan's excellence in the law, devotion to the Catholic faith, dedication to family, and unwavering compassion to all." Moran, who died in May at age 87, co-founded Massachusetts Citizens for Life, was president of the Pro-Life Legal Defense Fund, and served on the board of National Right to Life.

Moran's niece Beth Downey and granddaughter Alexia Moran received the award on behalf of Moran and his widow Carole, who was unable to attend the brunch in person.

The brunch was keynoted by Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Associate Justice Serge Georges Jr.

Justice Georges's career took him through some of Boston's biggest law firms before Gov. Deval Patrick appointed him to the Boston Municipal Court, serving primarily in Dorchester. Gillis called Justice Georges "our Judge Caprio," recalling the way he would treat defendants, many of them first-time offenders who spoke little English, with empathy and respect.

In his remarks, Justice Georges said that he wanted to primarily address the law students in the room, recalling the life of the English poet John Donne, a Catholic who was persecuted for his faith at a time when it was illegal to be Catholic in England.

"His life, perhaps like some of us here in the room, was marked by this tension between his inner convictions and the demands of the world around him," Justice Georges said. "But here's why God is so good, because out of this tension came some of the most profound reflections on what it means to be human and what it means to live in a community with one another."

He quoted Donne's famous words: "Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

"Our humanity is interconnected," Justice Georges said. "My life is bound up in yours and yours in mine. What happens to one of us, for good or for ill, affects us all. For those of us that are called into the law, whether as judges or clergy who shepherd souls or law students preparing to take up the mantle, this message has profound meaning."

He said that justice "isn't this abstract concept," but recognizing that when one person suffers injustice, all are diminished.

"You're stepping into a vocation that is both demanding and sacred," he told the students. "It requires courage, it requires humility, it requires perseverance, but most of all, it requires a steady moral compass. It requires a North Star -- the pursuit of justice."

The students' pursuit of justice, Justice Georges said, must never waver in the face of adversity, bend to popular opinion, or back down from criticism.

"I want you to understand that you are to let your Catholic faith take that where it wants to go," he said. "You can't stop it. You can't inhibit it. For people of faith, the pursuit of justice is not optional. It flows directly from our recognition of human dignity and our interconnectedness."

He told the students that "it's not enough to avoid doing harm," and that they should be actively doing good whenever they can.

"Every time we tolerate injustice, every time we look away, every time we excuse corruption or inequity or 'it's just the way things are,' we not only diminish mankind, but we diminish ourselves," he said. "That is our command. That is what your Catholic faith calls you to do."