I received a good note about my home parish back in my native Minnesota, the famous St. Agnes in St. Paul. I really need to get back there.
Dear Fr. Z.,
Thanks for all your work, especially in these trying times for Holy Mother Church. While you always cover fairly and accurately the tough stories plaguing the Church, you also share and encourage good news – well, here’s some good news!
I wanted to share about your old parish, Saint Agnes in St. Paul, Minnesota. The parish school is doing very well now with a Classical/Liberal Arts curriculum (it almost closed in the 2006-2007 school year). When Catholic schools rediscover their rich heritage, beautiful liturgy, and intellectual tradition they will thrive, and Saint Agnes is a great example of that.
This week, Catholic Schools Week, is actually Catholic at Saint Agnes School! Check out this video clip (about 20 seconds) of the Eucharistic Procession throughout the entire school building; the procession took about 30 minutes to bless all the rooms and all (approx.) 775 students. I’ve also attached a few pictures as well. The Lower School (grades PreK-6) students dressed in their “Sunday Best” for today while Upper School (grades 7-12) students were in full uniform. As you often note, rich liturgy and tradition are not “hard” and you can see in some of these pictures Kindergarten and 1st grade students kneeling and genuflecting before our Lord. Even little kids get it… in fact, they love it. See some of the reflections from our young students (3rd grade) attached. Here’s what our 1st grade teacher sent out today:
Hi all,
I asked the first graders how they felt during the Eucharistic procession and some students described it the following ways:
“I felt like my heart was on fire with love for Jesus.”
“It felt like it was another world visiting.”
“It felt like Jesus was giving me a hug.”
“I felt very joyful.”
“I felt love in my heart.”They brought tears to my eyes. God bless Saint Agnes School!!
This is a “brick by brick” moment, and I hope other schools are inspired by it!
https://www.facebook.com/TheCatholicSpirit/videos/361235698049383/
As an old Italian bishop once growled, “Less chatter. More processions!”
One of the pictures attached to the email.
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“Also its new“!
Revelations 21:5
Wonderful. So simple, yet so powerful. Children love ritual with a passion.
When I was a first year out teacher, (mid 1980s)I organized a Latin Benediction for Year 7 at the school I was in. They’d never experienced it before. A priest on staff was happy to do it. The RE coordinator didn’t oppose it, but was v. skeptical about the whole thing. I spent part of my maths lesson teaching the “Tantum Ergo” and responses to all classes in the form and we practiced various aspects of the ceremony over a few weeks. It went off without a hitch.
At the end of the year, the RE coordinator sent round a questionnaire in which the boys were asked which was their favourite class in religion for the year. An overwhelming number said “The Latin Benediction”.
One boy commented in the questionnaire: “At first I didn’t believe that Jesus was really in the host. But when the priest held up the monstrance and the bells rang, a shiver went down my back.”
“But when the priest held up the monstrance and the bells rang, a shiver went down my back.”
Thanks be to God!
How Catholic does it get! Beautiful. I’ve seen videos of “Flash Adorations” done in malls or other similar venues. I’ve always thought that I would immediately bow on both knees…and then immediately remove myself from the situation. With rapidity.
Would I be correct or incorrect in thinking that this is inappropriate? Father, could you please give your thoughts on this?
This school was part of the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education. The ICLE is devoted to support Catholic schools by supporting their administrators and teachers in learning and promoting the classical liberal arts. Which is to say they are helping them find their roots, period. Catholic parochial schools used to be the last bastion of traditional education. The Trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) in early grades, Quadrivium (arithmetic, music, geometry, astronomy) in higher grades. Now our schools have a way back home, a way to celebrate their distinctions from the world. Remember it was St Augustine who was able to bring his training as a secular master of Rhetoric into his conversion to the one true faith. We should help do no less for our children and our future.
This school was part of the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education. The ICLE is devoted to support Catholic schools by supporting their administrators and teachers in learning and promoting the classical liberal arts. Which is to say they are helping them find their roots, period. Catholic parochial schools used to be the last bastion of traditional education. The Trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) in early grades, Quadrivium (arithmetic, music, geometry, astronomy) in higher grades. Now our schools have a way back home, a way to celebrate their distinctions from the world. Remember it was St Augustine who was able to bring his training as a secular master of Rhetoric into his conversion to the one true faith. We should help do no less for our children and our future.