Aaron Swenson rarely misses the 7:30 morning Mass on Sunday at Sacred Heart Church.
"I've gone to Mass almost every Sunday for the past four or five years," said the altar server and city resident. "Everybody at the church is so nice to me. I tend to know everyone there and I've grown close to everyone there. My family is very religious and my dad doesn't enjoy going to a very busy 10 o'clock Mass."
An eighth-grade student at St. Agnes School in Arlington, Swenson recently received a prestigious honor from the Archdiocese of Boston as the recipient of the Pope John Paul II Service Award.
The certificate was awarded last Saturday by Archbishop Cardinal Sean O'Malley during Mass at the Holy Cross Cathedral in Boston. Swenson was one of eight recipients of the award, but Saturday's liturgy honored more than 700 altar servers.
"It was pretty scary. There were over 700 altar servers there," he said. "Me and seven other people had to walk up to the altar and hand Cardinal O'Malley the gifts. It was pretty amazing."
Franciscan Friars of Sacred Heart Parish, the Rev. Dennis Wheatley and coordinator of Altar Server Ministry Brother Damian Johnson, nominated Swenson for the award.
"He's one of the few altar boys we have who is very dedicated to the 7:30 morning Mass. He's a fine young man. A gentleman. He's very dedicated to his church and he's very faithful," Wheatley said. "For the parish it's a great honor coming from the archbishop cardinal. Out of 250 people that were nominated, he was one of eight acknowledged specifically by the archbishop."
Swenson's mother Adrienne said she's proud of her son.
"One of the reasons I think we're we so proud is there are so many altar servers in the Archdiocese ... to think he was one of the eight picked out was such an honor and a surprise," she said. "Aaron has been a very committed altar server. He started in third grade."
Adrienne said Aaron is one of four children in her family, who are "very committed" to their parish. Aaron's father, Dan, is a board member at the church.
"(Aaron) serves all of the holiday Masses. We're very active in our church at Sacred Heart. It's such a wonderful community church," she said. "We have a food pantry. Every Sunday morning he helps carry the bags to it. We just try to do whatever they ask."
Aaron said he may someday take over his father's shoe business in Boston. As for right now, he is enjoying his award and his parish.
"It means a lot to me - I've never been so honored in my life,"he said. "It's been an amazing experience ... unforgettable."
Jeff Gilbride can be reached at 781-398-8005 at jgilbrid@cnc.com
