St Thomas Military Academy - Kaydet Yearbook (Mendota Heights, MN)

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Top Picture: Preporing to distribute Contact pins ore Captain DiGennoro, Ralph White, Fa- ther Sweeny, Father Hermes, Tim Nolon and Joe Reymann. Bottom Picture: Congratulating each other on their successes with Contoct are Joe Reymann, Father Hermes, Captain DiGennoro ond Tim Nolan. Contact This year, through the untiring efforts of Father Hermes, adviser, and Tim Nolan, chairman. Con- tact has had a rebirth on our campus. Early in November, St. Thomas, for the first time, sow an induction ceremony of nearly two hundred fifty cadets. Father Sweeny, founder of the city-wide youth organization, officiated at the ceremony. Throughout the year this organization, with representatives from each class, has actively spon- sored both school and city events. Poge twenty-four

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Pictured above is Father Hermes carrying the Blessed Sacrament in the procession closing Forty Hours Devotion, and below the Cadets attend the regular Friday Bcno- diction. 40 Hours Devotion Since St. Thomas is primarily a Catholic school, one of the more familiar sights on our Campus is the Chapel where we are given the opportunity to participate in all phases of spiritual endeavor. Every Friday at noon we attend Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. A dialogue Mass is cele- brated on First Friday, followed by Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Cadets may receive daily the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist. There is a special Forty Hours Devotion for faculty and cadets late in the fall. During Lent, we attend Benediction and make the Way of the Cross. A Day of Recollection is held twice during the year for all cadets, in addition to the Seniors' closed retreats at Pine City and Buffalo, Minne- sota. Pog rw nty-»hf «

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Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas P 9« tw nty-fiv« On March 7, the members of the Academy and College faculties and graduating seniors marched in a solemn procession and assembled to honor the patron of our school, St. Thomas Aquinas. His Ex- cellency, Archbishop William O. Brady celebrated the Pontifical High Mass. The day, marked by pomp and ceremony, was attended by visiting religious dignitaries of the archdiocese. Over eighty clergy- men responded to the invitation to join with us in honoring the patron soint of schools. The celebration of the day was also supplemented by the publication of the book, Tradition of Excel- lence honoring Father Flynn and other presidents of the Academy, as well as familiarizing the St. Thomas family with our new president, the Very Reverend James P. Shannon. The celebration of St. Thomas Day is a reminder to all participating of the function of schools—that it is through them, young men and women may be- come the leaders of tomorrow.