BRAINTREE -- Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley will present Cheverus Award Medals to laypersons, deacons, and religious during a 2 p.m. daytime prayer service Sunday, Nov. 24, at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.

Inaugurated in 2008 at the close of the archdiocese's bicentennial year, the annual award ceremony recognizes local Catholics for their dedicated service to the Church.

Each year, one-third of the parishes of the Archdiocese of Boston are asked to nominate a parishioner for the award. Most recipients are nominated by their pastor and approved by their regional bishop or episcopal vicar and Cardinal O'Malley.

The criteria given to pastors suggests that the nominee be a layperson who has served the parish over an extended period of time and has done so in a quiet, unassuming, and perhaps, unrecognized fashion.

In addition to the nominees from parishes, each year the regional bishops and episcopal vicars are asked to nominate a religious sister, religious brother and a deacon from their region who are deserving of a Cheverus Medal. The Central Ministries of the archdiocese also make nominations from among religious, deacons and laypersons who serve on archdiocesan committees or lead key ministries. Some additional recipients are selected personally by Cardinal O'Malley.

"The Cheverus Medals are a way, in the Catholic community, that we say thank you to God and thank you to our brothers and sisters in the household of faith," Cardinal O'Malley said at the 2018 ceremony.

He went on to describe the Cheverus Award recipients as "the motor that keeps our Church running."

The medal is named for Boston's first bishop, Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus, who led the diocese from 1808 until his return to France in 1824. Bishop Cheverus died in 1836 as the Archbishop of Bordeaux.

The oval-shaped medal bears a likeness of Bishop Cheverus based on the Gilbert Stuart portrait. On the reverse side is Bishop Cheverus' coat of arms.

The ceremony is held each year on or around the Solemnity of Christ the King, the final Sunday before the start of Advent.

Following are this year's Cheverus Award recipients, listed alphabetically followed by the nominating entity:

Vincent Adornato -- St. John the Evangelist, East Bridgewater

Marie Carme Aurelien -- St. Matthew-St. Angela Parish, Dorchester/Mattapan

Francisco Baez -- St. Patrick Parish, Lawrence (Hispanic Community)

William Baril -- St. Joseph Parish, Wakefield

John Barrett -- St. Augustine Parish, Andover

Judy Beatrice -- St. Paul Parish, Cambridge

Susan Black -- Sacred Heart Parish, Middleboro

Irene Bonner -- St. Robert Bellarmine, Andover

Deacon John Boyle -- St. Joseph Parish, Holbrook

Eunice Brandao -- St. Anthony Parish, Allston (Brazilian Community)

Donald Buckley -- St. Mary of the Sacred Heart Parish, Hanover

Betty Bythrow -- Holy Trinity Parish, Quincy

Ann "Nancy" Callanan -- St. Mary of the Nativity Parish, Scituate

Edward Calnan -- St. Mary, Lynn

David Capaldo -- St. Helen Parish, Norwell

Deacon John J. Capomaccio (posthumous) and Angelina Capomaccio -- Merrimack Region

Sister Missionaries of Charity -- St. Peter Parish, Dorchester

Patrick Chieh -- St. Patrick Parish, Lowell

Eileen Collins -- Immaculate Conception Parish, Weymouth

Loretta Connolly -- St. Gerard Majella Parish, Canton

Rose Cotrone -- Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Boston

Martin Cunniffe -- St. Bartholomew, Needham

Kathleen Curtin -- Good Shepherd, Wayland

Regina Davis -- St. John the Evangelist Parish, Winthrop

Brother Gary G. Davis, BH -- Central Region Office

Jeanne Dignan -- Sacred Hearts Parish, Bradford and Groveland

Robert Dolan -- St. John the Evangelist Parish, Canton

Denise Donlan -- Our Lady of Good Counsel, Methuen

Mara dos Santos -- Madonna Shrine, East Boston

Mary Katherine Duffy -- St. Linus, Natick

Anne Duncan -- St. William of York, Tewksbury

Lillian Dunham -- Sts. Martha and Mary Parish, Lakeville

Jane Egge -- St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Acton

Americo M. Enos -- Parish of the Transfiguration, Wilmington

Sister Caterina Esselen, OLM -- South Region Office

Lisa Fasano -- Cardinal/Archdiocese of Boston

Diane Flynn -- St. Theresa of Avila Parish, West Roxbury

Sister Suzanne Fondini, MFIC -- West Region

Kenneth Foscaldo -- Archdiocese of Boston, Pastoral Center

Richard Gagnon -- St. John the Baptist, Peabody

Christine Gebski -- Sacred Hearts Parish, Bradford and Groveland

Deacon Alfred Geneus -- Central Region Office

Frank J. Gersony -- St. Clement Parish, Somerville

Sister Marilyn Gignac, SUSC -- Merrimack Region

Una Gillis -- St. Brigid, Lexington

Sarah Glover -- Our Lady of Sorrows, Sharon

Susan Gormley -- St. Anne, Littleton

David C. Grise -- Parish of the Transfiguration, Wilmington

Genevieve Guimond -- St. Christine, Marshfield

Rosemary Hanley -- St. Patrick Parish, Lawrence

Celia Davenport Harris -- St. Cecilia Parish, Boston

Sister Eileen Harvey, CSJ -- Central Region Office

Barbara Hatem -- Sacred Heart, Newton

William Henderson -- St. Mary of the Assumption, Hull

Anne Hughes -- St. John Chrysostom, West Roxbury

Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception -- St. Patrick Parish, Roxbury

Mary Jantzen -- St. Tarcisius, Framingham

John Jones and Julie Jones -- Immaculate Conception, Malden

John F. Kaslow -- Merrimack Region

Deacon William Kerns -- North Region

John Lahey -- St. Anthony Parish, Allston

Kevin Lally -- Central Region Office

Wanderley Lucas de Paula -- St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Somerville

Thomas J. MacDonald -- St. Mary-St. Catherine of Siena Parish

Luz E. Marchani -- St. Patrick Parish, Brockton

Leokadia Marchwinski -- St. John Paul II Shrine of Divine Mercy, Salem

Isabelle Maria, CFP -- St. Francis Chapel, Boston

Orlando Martinez and Flora Martinez -- Holy Family Parish, Dorchester

Barbara Matyi -- Good Shepherd, Wayland

Deacon Kelley McCormick -- West Region

Donna McDonald -- St. Ann Parish, Quincy

The Honorable William Melahn -- Cardinal/Archdiocese of Boston

Elizabeth Molloy -- St. Martha, Plainville

Sister Barbara Monahan, SC -- Merrimack Region

Helen Monteagudo -- Sacred Heart Parish, Quincy

Dan Moriarty -- Blessed Sacrament, Walpole

Tom Moroney -- St. Isidore, Stow

Frank Mosher -- St. Mary, East Walpole

John Mulhane -- St. Mary, Brookline

John Erick Noel -- St. Matthew/St. Angela Parish, Dorchester/Mattapan

Susan Noyes -- Holy Redeemer, Merrimac and West Newbury

Patrick E. O'Connor -- Cardinal/Archdiocese of Boston

Viviane Ouellette -- Merrimack Region

Ngoc Pham -- St. Patrick Parish, Lowell (Vietnamese Community)

Doris Pienton -- St. Teresa of Calcutta, Dorchester

Cecile Provencher -- Merrimack Region

Socorro Ramos -- St. Michael Parish, North Andover

Sister Pauline Raposo, SNDdeN -- Merrimack Region

Edith Rodriguez -- Immaculate Conception, Everett

Sean Runge -- Our Lady of Good Counsel, Methuen

Mary L. Ryan -- Cardinal/Archdiocese of Boston

Cesar Salazar -- Immaculate Conception, Revere

Elizabeth "Raisha" Santana -- Sacred Heart Parish, Roslindale

Elaine Santos -- St. Francis of Assisi, Cambridge

Kathleen Savage -- Sacred Heart, Lynn

Roger Scott -- Most Precious Blood, Dover

Mary Jane Simpson -- St. Thomas the Apostle, Millis

Barbara Smith -- St. Catherine of Alexandria, Westford

Jonathan Suber -- Sacred Heart, Lexington

Margaret A. Sullivan -- St. Francis de Sales Parish, Charlestown

Stephen Swochak -- Immaculate Conception, Newbury and Newburyport

Esther Tanous -- St. John the Evangelist, Beverly

Robert Tosi, Jr. -- St. Camillus, Arlington

Kim Tran -- Mary Queen of the Apostles, Salem

Klara Vajda -- St. Augustine Parish, Andover

Olga Valencia -- St. Patrick Parish, Lowell (Hispanic Community)

Lorraine Valentine -- St. Katharine Drexel, Roxbury

Norm Wright and Marsha Wright -- St. Ann by the Sea Parish, Marshfield

Carol Yaroschuk -- Our Lady of the Assumption Parish, Marshfield

Charles Young and Maria Young -- St. Patrick, Natick