St Stephens Academy - Academician Yearbook (Port Huron, MI)

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Christ’s own Blood brings us SPIRITUAL

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Our senior instructors, Sister Evangelista and Sister Jean Baptiste, make preparatory plans for a panel on the Ecumenical Council to be given by the twelfth grade religion students. Sister Evangelista also teaches Shorthand, and Sister Jean Baptiste instructs classes in French and Higher Mathematics. These are our guides . . . Oh, not a test - groan the students as Mr. Michael Gkekas looks through his file folders for a difficult Modern History Examination. our teachers . . . our friends That’s an F . - Professor Romeo Fracalanza, St. Stephen’s music in- structor, points out a slight error to studious pianist, Jim Collins. Sister Marie Arthur shows the proper erasure technique although she cautions about its frequent use. Sister also instructs a group of juniors in Church History. 7

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STRENGTH to meet life’s V- • fffo. problems Spiritual strength is imparted to us by many and various means. Prominent among these is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Daily Mass is provided for us so that it may be the functional or operative center of our lives, in truth, an accurate measure of us as Catholics. In active participation at the Mass we come to a better knowledge, and therefore a love of the Mass. We realize that it is at Mass that we draw near to God, the Author of ail Strength. For us the Mass purifies; the Mass strenth- ens; the Mass brings peace. Fortified by these graces received, we can strive man- fully to overcome the evil we encounter and to stand free in God’s truth. Much of our vigor and strength comes, of course, from the Sacraments. These help us to reproduce in ourselves the sentiments which Christ had when He was on earth. They not only give us strength but a way of applying it — a Way of Life. Thus they enable us to live and teach us how to do so. In the Sacraments Christ is giving us life, He is teaching us, He is forgiving us, and He is strengthening us. Most important of these is the Sacra- ment in which the holy and powerful per- sonality of Jesus comes into contact with us, with a nearness that did not exist before. In our Holy Communions we look for strength — strength to work and to suffer, to live for God. Throughout the school year, we renew our spiritual strength by using some of the many sacramentals. Prominent among these were the daily use of holy water, a loving reverence for the Sign of the Cross, a participation in the spiritual blessings of the Church, such as the blessing of the throats on the feast of St. Blaze, and the receiving of blessed ashes on Ash Wednesday. Frequently, as a group, we prayed in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, the rosary in hon- or of our Lady. Many of these were re- vitalized during Retreat. It was a time we relived our dedication to Christ. We ratified on our own account what we once received at Baptism. As the first day of Retreat comes to a close, Father Edward DeMars, the pastor, bestows the blessing of God on the high school retreatants. 9