White Mass honors local healthcare professionals
By Melanie Sisinni11/20/2025
The annual White Mass for healthcare professionals was celebrated on Saturday, Nov. 15 at St. Joseph Bread of Life Church in Erie, where members of the St. Giuseppe Moscati Guild of the Diocese of Erie gathered with the wider community for the 16th annual celebration. The liturgy, named for the white coats traditionally worn by medical professionals, honored doctors, nurses, caregivers and all who serve in the healing professions. It offered the community an opportunity to pray for strength, wisdom and compassion for those dedicated to the physical and spiritual care of others.
The guild, under the patronage of St. Giuseppe Moscati—a 20th-century physician known for his heroic care of the poor—provides those in the healing arts with opportunities for educational and spiritual growth. The annual White Mass is a sentinel part of that ongoing formation.
Father Stephen Schreiber, chaplain of the guild, celebrated the Mass with Deacon Dr. Frank Pregler, a family physician who offered a stirring homily on the duties of the Catholic healer and the life of St. Giuseppe Moscati.
Reflecting on the vocation of healing, Deacon Dr. Pregler reminded attendees, “As physicians and healthcare workers, our profession, our job, our occupation is not just to make AHN, LECOM or UPMC happy. It is to serve the patient. It is to serve a calling from God, because Jesus is the divine physician and God works through us.”
During the liturgy, caregivers renewed vocational promises to “do no harm” as they looked to the example of St. Giuseppe Moscati, whose integration of medical expertise and deep faith remains a model for Catholic healers today. Music for the Mass was graciously and inspiringly provided by Briana Erdman.
The event was organized with significant contribution from Dr. Jeff McGovern and the St. Giuseppe Moscati Guild, whose efforts helped bring together physicians, nurses, students and families for a morning of prayer and fellowship. A reception with light refreshments followed the Mass, offering members of the healthcare community the chance to connect with peers and clergy.
At the conclusion of the liturgy, Dr. McGovern thanked the congregation for their attendance and reminded them of the sacred nature of their work.
“What you do in prayer, or deed, or prayer and deed means so much because you do it in Jesus’ name,” he said.
Health care professionals seeking more information about the work of the St. Giuseppe Moscati Guild can visit stgiuseppe.cathmed.org or contact Dr. McGovern at 814-746-5884 for details on future events and involvement.
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