Fifth Grade Mass
| On Friday, December 7, 2007, St. Mary’s School Community gathered
for another wonderful celebration. Each month a class hosts the monthly
school Mass, and this event has become a much-anticipated event. Last
year, Frank Connell, our new youth minister added much to our celebration.
Frank, along with Jon Niven and our own Mr. McDermott, have added upbeat
Christian based music to our celebrations. The whole community is now
singing and celebrating enthusiastically. The recessional song “Trading
My Sorrows” is now something that all students, faculty and many
parents now know and look forward to signing along with singing at the
conclusion of each Mass. Frank also oversees an after-school youth group,
which is open to all in the community. Many of our middle school students
love this gathering and attend weekly. Frank has also begun a new middle
school Lifeteen program named “The Edge.” Both the students
and the parents look forward to meeting once a month on Monday nights.
An added element to our monthly Masses is something new and very unique to many Catholic School celebrations – a liturgical dance headed by our 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Alexia Etienne. Close to 30 Fifth Graders danced liturgically to the beautiful Christmas ballad Mary Did You Know in honor of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Many parents, grandparents, relatives, and parishioners made it a priority to be at this liturgy. Mrs. Sutherland stated that, “the children were so respectful and prayerful it was an early Christmas present to witness this celebration.” Her son Joshua has been liturgically dancing at their church since he was four years old. She was thrilled that this has become part of the regular school liturgical celebrations. Our Christmas concert is Tuesday, December 18th at 7:00 P.M. in the church. Mr. Seth Adams, our new music teacher, can’t wait for the students to present their special concert to their parents. Mrs. Etienne will perform their liturgical dance as a reprise, and all are invited to participate in the true meaning of Christmas. Hope to see you there! |
