St Agnes High School - Agnita Yearbook (West Chester, PA)

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Dedication To OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION Whose body was so hallowed by the beauty of her soul —Matchless, uniquely perfect— That Death itself could not keep the two apart As Jesus came to take His Mother home. We, the members of the Class of 1951, St. Agnes High School, West Chester, Pa., DEDICATE This, our issue of the Agnita With heart-felt gratitude to our Holy Father, Pius XII, For it was he—the Saviour’s Vicar here on earth— Who gave the Holy Year a Most Gracious Gift, When he solemnly defined, as a part of the rich legacy of Truth Left to His Church by the Son, The ancient belief in the Assumption of His Mother. 2

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THE AGNITA The Prayer Composed by Pope Pius XII in Honour of the Assumption Virgin immaculate, God’s Mother, Mother of mankind, with all the faith that glows in our hearts, we believe! We believe that you were taken up, body and soul of you, victoriously to heaven, where all those choirs of angels, all those thronging saints, cried aloud in welcome. We join with them in praising and blessing God, who has raised you so high above all creatures that are but creatures; we offer you the breathless tribute of our worship and our love. A mother s gaze, that dwelt so fondly on the humanity of Jesus, humbled and suffering on earth, in what content, now, it rests on the humanity of the uncreated Word, glorified in heaven! How that soul rejoices, how that heart thrills with blessed longing, as you contemplate the adorable Trinity face to face! And we, poor sin- ners, our souls caged by the body’s grossness, implore you to purify our senses, till, in all the charm of created things, we learn to taste God, nothing but God. All this we know; and of this, too, we are confident, that your merciful glance falls on sorrow and anxiety of ours, striving and weakness of ours; that those lips are parted in a smile over happiness of ours, triumphs of ours; with each of us, as once with the Beloved Disciple, you are conscious that the voice of Jesus is saying to you, “Here is thy son. By the name of Mother we appeal to you; like John, all through this mortal life we look to you for guidance, for support, and for comfort. And this life-giving assurance we have; those eyes, that wept over earth, the blood of Jesus had watered, still look towards this world of ours, a prey, now, to wars and persecution, to oppression of the helpless and the innocent. And our eyes, benighted in this valley of tears, are fixed on your beacon-light that shines above us; to all our heaviness of heart, to the Church and to our country, your tender pity will bring relief. I his, too, we believe, that where you reign in glory, clothed with the sun, crowned with stars, all the angels, all the saints, find their whole content, their whole happiness in you. And we, passers- by and pilgrims on earth, yet comforted by the resurrection that shall be ours, look up to you, our life, our love, our hope; lead us on, spell-bound with the accents of your voice, and at last, our exile done, show us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus. Mary, blessed Virgin, who was ever so kind, so pitying, so dearly loved? 4