My favorite part of XII years of Catholic school

By Anonymous -


Reflecting on what I remember most of my Catholic education....

After spending class time discussing the significance of the Qur'an and the recitation of the Qur'an, part of which deals with the schooling I could not help but think back to my own parochial education...

The first thing that came to mind was how much we all despised our uniforms, displayed above. Day after day complaining about wearing them, we thought this was the only thing that differentiated us from those who went to public school. We also constantly complained about the services that were mandatory for us to attend, and the various religion classes we took each semester. It was always interesting to me that these were the classes I usually did the most poorly in. Even with all the complaints I spent 12 years of my schooling attending Catholic schools, and although I complained deep down there was something special about it that I enjoyed very much. 

From grades 1-8 when I attended St. Joseph's Catholic school we attended services for almost all Catholic days of observance. Prior to attending the mass for the specific occasion we would spend some time with our class learning the hymns for the service. After some time I knew that there were specific songs for each occasion, some songs could be used interchangeably but others were meant solely for specific occasions. I developed favorites and would go to mass on my own in the hopes to hear my favorite hymns. Below is my favorite Eucharistic hymn. I soon realized it was the songs, and the interactive part of the mass that drew me in. 
We did not just use songs during mass but we also used religious songs to put on certain plays to learn about our religion, which reminded me of Professor JBK's Purim performance. It was during this time when we used songs, to bring people together to celebrate what we had been learning in our religion classes. Till this day there are certain songs from that time of my life I will always remember, and when I hear them they will always evoke certain feelings and memories in me. 
During my four years of high school at Archbishop Molloy I quickly realized the school had many traditions. Each Thanksgiving and Christmas the school holds a mass where all the alumni are invited to attend and join in the celebration. It was my freshman year when I realized the power of a hymn that could bring an entire school community together in unison to celebrate. I was astonished that no one needed lyrics, yet everyone was singing, in many ways I found it to be a right of passage at Molloy to learn this song, and be able to join in with the celebration. Envia tu Espiritu is the name of this song which I will never forget, and hold with the happiest of memories. 



Is there any religious music that you hold close to you?

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 26, 2015 at 7:13 PM

    When I was in High school, I was a part of the youth choir at my church. Every Christmas eve we would do the 11pm service which incorporated a candle lighting ceremony in which we would sing a song called "Night of silence" which is sung in tandem with Silent Night. This song is so near and dear to my heart and always reminds me of the joy of Christmas time. It is a song that our director allows the alumni of the choir to come back and sing every year. No one needs lyrics anymore, everyone just knows the words. It is a song that brings everyone together. The questions is it the hearing that connects everyone, or the act of singing itself?

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