BOSTON -- The St. Fidelis High School Seminary in Herman, Pennsylvania, where Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley studied as a young man, was known for its agricultural output and the menagerie of livestock in its care.

Among other tasks, Cardinal O'Malley was responsible for making the seminary's sausage. One day, while the cardinal was at work, one of the German nuns came in with a box of bananas. Upon opening the box, a tarantula leapt onto her. Cardinal O'Malley grabbed a broom and began whacking the spider on the nun's back. The nun knew no English, and Cardinal O'Malley did not know the German word for spider, so he beat her with the broom while crying "Sister, sister! The animal, the animal!"

The nun thought that the cardinal was calling her an animal.

To Cardinal O'Malley, the incident represents the importance of being able to find the right words for a situation. Speaking to 1,500 people at the 16th annual Celebration of the Priesthood, held at the Omni Seaport Hotel in Boston on Sept. 18, the cardinal thought back to the nun and the spider.

"This is one of my last opportunities to address so many of my priests, deacons, fellow religious, and Catholics in the archdiocese," he said, "and yet I don't have the adequate vocabulary to express the sentiments that are in my heart."

This year's Celebration of the Priesthood was the most successful in history, raising $2.8 million for the Clergy Trust, which is responsible for providing healthcare, wellness, and retirement benefits to active and senior priests in the Archdiocese of Boston. The attendees were shown a video in which 16 priests, including Bishop Mark O'Connell and Bishop Cristiano Barbosa, were interviewed about their vocations.

Cardinal O'Malley said that the video "reminds all of us of how blessed we are to have such priests serving in our parishes, hospitals, and all the ministries of the Archdiocese of Boston."

This year's celebration also served as a tribute to two towering figures in the recent history of the archdiocese: Cardinal O'Malley, who is nearing the end of his tenure as archbishop of Boston; and Jack Connors, co-chair of this year's Celebration of the Priesthood, founder of the Campaign for Catholic Schools, and a tireless benefactor of the archdiocese until his death in July at age 82.

"All Boston came together at the passing of Jack just two months ago," Cardinal O'Malley said, "but tonight, we see that his legacy of love and service lives on. I'm sure that his Irish eyes are smiling tonight."

He called Connors "our own Catholic Robin Hood," taking donations from the rich to give to the poor.

Connors's co-chair for the celebration was Eversource CEO Joe Nolan.

"It's fitting in so many ways that Clergy Trust's annual event was Jack's last event," he said in his remarks. "Jack lived his life through his faith."

Nolan described Connors as a family man who loved his community and was always concerned for the poorest and most vulnerable in society.

"He was also a Catholic kid from Roslindale, who never forgot the life lessons he learned from his Catholic education," Nolan said. "This event was very important to him, much more so in the last months of his life."

Nolan also thanked Cardinal O'Malley for his "great leadership" and recalled what the cardinal said about his time beekeeping at St. Fidelis: "When you're working with bees, you learn not to take every sting seriously."

"I think that's a great metaphor for the way he served the church here in Boston," Nolan said.

This year's St. Joseph the Worker Award went to Father Robert Kickham, Cardinal O'Malley's priest secretary. Clergy Trust Chair Mark Vachon said that Father Kickham is the "unsung hero" that the award is meant to honor.

"Most people don't even know Father Kickham -- precisely how he likes it," Vachon said. "He has made staying out of the spotlight an art, quietly and coolly managing the most called-upon cardinal in the history of our archdiocese. He has always been a tireless advocate for his brother priests and a fervent supporter of the Clergy Trust."

"Like St. Joseph, Bob Kickham eschewed the limelight while he keeps everything on track," the cardinal said. "I'm so grateful for his generosity, his loyalty, his infinite patience with me, while with seemingly effortless grace, he's worked tirelessly to make your archbishop's ministry possible. I don't know what I would have done without him."

Cardinal O'Malley was the evening's keynote speaker. With his signature humility and self-effacing humor, he looked back on his 21 years as archbishop of Boston.

"Coming to Boston was not easy," he said, "but leaving Boston is even harder, because I have come to love you all so deeply."

At the time of the cardinal's installation in 2003, the church was reeling from the clergy sex abuse crisis and Cardinal Bernard Law's resignation. However, he said, the faith and witness of Boston's Catholics helped the archdiocese overcome the challenges of the next 21 years.

"I know how surprised people were, beginning with myself, when a scruffy bearded Capuchin in his bare feet was not exactly what people were suspecting," he said. "But I was very gratified when the Catholics in Boston embraced me."

The cardinal noted with particular pride that he has ordained 140 priests in his time as archbishop. There are currently 65 men studying for the priesthood in Boston's seminaries, 18 of them first-year students. He thanked the priests for the $215,000 they raised for seminarian scholarships, which was matched by an anonymous couple and then presented as a retirement gift to the cardinal at the archdiocese's presbyteral convocation in April.

"Our priests are not only committed to minister to you now but are willing to make sacrifices to ensure that priestly ministry will be available to your children in our Catholic ministries in the future," the cardinal said.

The cardinal gave well wishes to his successor, Archbishop-elect Richard Henning, who also attended the celebration.

"We welcome you and rejoice at your presence among us," Cardinal O'Malley said. "To you we pledge our prayers and unfailing support so that through your ministry, Christ the Good Shepherd may continue to manifest his unfailing love and mercy in the church."

Expressing his gratitude for the support of the faithful for over two decades, the cardinal finished his remarks by saying: "As I set aside the pallium of the Archdiocese of Boston that Pope St. John Paul II placed on my shoulders two decades ago, I consider it the greatest privilege having been able to serve you as your shepherd. You will always be in my heart and in my prayers."