Mary

Today we crowned Mary in our celebration mass with Grandparents and Special Friends. This beautiful tradition at St. Philip the Apostle school is held every May and combines sharing our school with special people and honoring the Mother of our Lord, the Virgin Mary. From singing songs in mass to partaking in the 7th grade bake sale, to watching our grown up 8th graders process down the aisle amidst roses for Mary, the day is lovely and special.

I had the privilege of reading the 8th grade Mary essays and voting on the best one. All the faculty helps choose by reading the anonymous essays. It is always difficult to choose from essays that are personal as well as special. Each student really understands Mary and her remarkable life. But, it was hearing the two chosen essay read aloud before Mass that really moved me. We have such incredible, compassionate and poised 8th graders! St. Philips has been blessed these past nine years to have them as part of our community.

My intention for today's blog entry was to provide information on Mary and Grandparents and Special Friends Day but you all know about both already. Our religious education is strong and each student from Kinder to 8th grade has a firm grasp on who Mary is and her importance in our lives. So, instead I find myself reflecting on the day. I'm watching children walk by the library hand in hand with their grandparent or friend. They are excited and happy to share their school, their classroom, and lives with these special people. Isn't it wonderful?

Saint Philip's Feast Day

Today St. Philip the Apostle School is celebrating the feast day of Saint Philip. This tradition finds the St. Philip school community gathered in Holy Angel Hall, eating pan dolce and hearing about our patron saint. This year there is a little more of a surprise in store for the students. The teachers are going to put on some skits that help remind us all what it means to be a St. Philip student.

Saint Philip is one of those saints that not too much is known about. I tried searching for him on our various databases and didn't have much luck. I did find him in the World Book Encyclopedia and Wikipedia. Have I ever mentioned that encyclopedias are my favorite reference tools? They rarely fail me. There is also an entry on him in the Dictionary of Saints by John J. Delaney.

According to World Book, Philip of Bethsaida was one of the 12 Apostles and can be found many times in the Gospel of John. Present at the miracle of the loaves and fishes (John 6:5-7) it is also assumed that Philip was Greek since he was able to communicate with a group of Greeks in John 12:20-22. Philip was present at the Last Supper and was the apostle that asked Jesus if he could see the father (John 14:8-9). According to Richard Edward, the author of the World Book Encyclopedia article, "This special interest in Philip indicates that he was highly regarded by the author of the Gospel of John".

Lastly, the library does have a dictionary of saints and it has an entry on Saint Philip. I am happy to say that the book confirms the accounts of Philip in the bible according to World Book. Although rest assured, I did also look them up in the bible. The book of Saints tells how Philip is not mentioned further in the New Testament other than being a part of the 12 apostles waiting for the Holy Spirit in Acts 1:13. According to the book tradition dictates that Philip "preached in Greece and was crucified upside down at Hierapolis under Emperor Domitian".

And that is really all there is to know about Saint Philip. Wikipedia does make some other references and I did find a listing on http://saints.sqpn.com that mentions his character and says he is the patron saint of hatters. But I was not able to confirm this information elsewhere. I also was unable to discover why he is the patron saint of hatter. 

Citation:  

1. Edwards, Richard A. "Philip of Bethsaida, Saint." World Book Student. World Book, 2012. Web. 3 May 2012. Delaney, John J. 
2. Delaney, John J. Dictionary of Saints. Doubleday, New York  1982

The Immaculate Conception Part 1

Alright Falcons, there is something that seems to confuse many people including Catholics. As you know, we attend mass, as a school, once a week on Tuesdays. Yet this past Tuesday we did not go to mass. Instead we went today. I heard from a few students that they were a little confused as to why. Fr. Dennis did an excellent job of explaining it to us during his Homily but I'm afraid some of our falcons weren't listening. I had to laugh a little when a student turned to me and asked, "why did we go to mass today and not Tuesday?" Mind you this was said seconds after Fr. Dave finished speaking. That's OK, it happens to the best of us! But of course this got me thinking. If you follow this blog you know I have a passion for research.  I will take every chance I get to become The Falcon, supper speedy research librarian extraordinaire! Hey, it is fun!

I did not know today was a holy day of obligation. I am not sure why this year my brain decided to acknowledge mass as a school or that it is a day of obligation. Also, I was once a Catholic who thought the feast of the Immaculate Conception meant it was the day Mary immaculately conceived Jesus. Perhaps in all my years of Catholic schooling it was never explained to me properly OR more likely, I didn't listen properly. Now I know better and am aware that it has to do with Mary herself being immaculate.

All right, that's what I know! Ready? Get your research caps on! Here we go...

GOOGLE: Yes, yes I did Google. 
Immaculate Conception brought up websites for some schools. 
The Immaculate Conception got me Wikipedia! Um no thank you. While, I think of Wikipedia as a great jumping off point I reserve it only for subjects I don't know much about. I use it as a way to get those synapses going. So I skipped over Wikipedia.
What is the feast day of the immaculate conception returned some interesting results and I scanned the various websites for information. All seemed correct and unbiased either written for Catholics or for people wanting to learn about Catholicism. Good. 

But, I didn't want to just trust websites, especially ones I didn't know much about. So I pulled out a book donated by Mrs. Ramirez (the school principal for you non SP readers). 

The Catholic Source Book: A Comprehensive Collection of Information about the Catholic Church. Our copy is from 2000 so it could be considered outdated. I am not 100% sure if some of this information has changed or not.  Here are some tidbits of what I found. 

"There are ten holy days of obligation listed by Rome. In the Untied States six, besides Sundays, are celebrated. The number varies from country to country because conferences of bishops are free to set their country's holy days - with the Vatican's approval. Current practice is to retain at least two: Christmas and one feast honoring Mary." Here is the list, the italicized ones are not obligations in the USA. Christmas, Epiphany, Ascension, The Body and Blood of Christ, Mary, Mother of God, Immaculate Conception, Assumption, St. Joseph, Saints Peter and Paul, All Saints. 

Well that explains why we had mass today instead of Tuesday. Today, the Immaculate Conception is a holy day of obligation. It is also special in that it is a mass that honors Mary, the Mother of God. 
Beyond that there were only some references to symbolism, mainly Mary and the Moon. (more on that in another post)

Back to the internet. 

I found many many websites explaining Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary or the feast day of the Immaculate Conception. While they all said it a little differently this is the one thing that stood out. 
Mary, full of grace from God was redeemed from the moment of her conception. As said by Pope Pius IX in December 8, 1854, "The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin." It was on that December day that Pope Pius IX made it church dogma, that Mary is free from original sin through the grace of God. While the concept was not new, in fact centuries of Catholics believed in immaculate Mary, the church now acknowledges officially Mary's freedom from original sin. Immaculate meaning without sin and conception referring to Mary's conception, not Jesus'. 


And that is all for now. I am very interested in this topic, especially the symbolism and artwork. I also have a lovely book written by DEMI. She is known for her award-winning picture book biographies of spiritual leaders. Her book on Mary has some interesting text that I want to do further research on before posting. So stay tuned! 

"This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace in the world" A Thousand Paper Cranes

There once lived a little girl named Sadako Sasaki. She called Hiroshima, Japan home. She was two years old in 1945 when the atomic bomb was dropped to end World War Two. It took an instant to destroy the city and kill 140,000 citizens. A mile away, Sadako, her mother and father managed to survive. But they could not help breathing in the dust; the radiation that settled on the former city.

Sadako and her family rebuilt their lives and tried to put the horrific past behind them. Sadako was thoughtful, energetic, athletic; her mother's favorite child. When she was eleven she discovered lumps on her neck and  purple splotches on her legs. She was diagnosed with leukemia or as her mother called it, atomic bomb disease. She was dying.

In Japanese tradition, when you have a fervent wish you fold one thousand paper cranes and the gods will grant your wish. Sadako hoped to get better and survive deadly leukemia. She also dreamed of a day where there wouldn't be war and suffering but instead peace for humanity. Some people say Sadako folded the thousand cranes. Others say that she was not able to complete her task before dying and her classmates folded the rest of the cranes in her honor. Either way, Sadako is an inspiration of hope, of love, of strength.

The world, our world, is full of tragedy, of grief and sorrow. How do you move on? How do we remember to love one another when faced with pain? September 11th changed our world as much as the atomic bomb changed Sadako's. On this tenth anniversary we must find a way to continue to learn and heal from such tragedy.

Children's Peace Monument located in Peace Memorial Park Hiroshima, Japan.
Build in honor of Sadako by her classmates. 

Although Sadako's paper cranes could not save her life they have flown to greater heights, becoming a symbol of hope for peace.  Her story, her legend lives on bringing understanding and hope to all who know her.

St. Philip School and Parish has decided to follow her example and fold one thousand paper cranes to commemorate September 11th. The cranes will be on the alter for Sunday masses. The Jr. High students have heard the story of Sadako and in art class will contribute to the paper crane folding. Other classes are learning about the importance of promoting world peace. All this is a beautiful example of how awareness and love for all humans can bring about change. Just as long as hope never dies.

Thank you Sadako Sasaki. You are an inspirations. Your kind heart and dedication has achieved something great!

To read a fictional account of Sadako's story check out
 Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr

As we prepare for Christmas break and all the excitement that comes with the season I am reminded of the reason we Catholics celebrate Christmas. It isn't about gifts and Christmas trees. It is about the baby Jesus and his remarkable parents. Many of the traditional Christmas stories focus mostly on Jesus and Mary. But, what about Joseph, not Jesus' natural father but instead chosen by God to be his adoptive one. How uncertain he must have felt at the prospect of letting the little baby Jesus into his life and trusting Mary and God. The birth story of Jesus is filled with remarkable examples of how humans should behave when faced with fear.

Fear Not, Joseph by Julie Stiegemeyer beautifully illustrates the emotions of the third part of a very important trio of people. Much of the language is translated from bible passages that speak directly of Joseph during this time. The author fills in the blanks with true human emotions and reactions. While Joseph is scared he always ends up turning to God to renew his strength and calm his fears.

One World Many Religions

Diversity is an important aspect of a St. Philip's education. It is very important for our children to be aware of their world and embrace cultural differences. While the 4th graders continue to explore the Dewey Decimal System they are given the opportunity to explore their world. This month, they are working on the Dewey 200s also known as Religion. Since we are a Catholic, the school library has a decent size Christianity section, although I am working on making it bigger. We have a few Bibles and wonderful books on saints and sacraments. There is a nice collection of prayer books and illustrated bible stories.

I like that there is a place for students to read about their religions. The 4th graders were asked to look for a book from the 200s to check out. They will have a week to read the book and then next class we will discuss their different religion books. Some were very eager to find bible stories and books of prayer. While others were excited to discover that mythology is included in the religion sections. They quickly snapped up books on Greek mythology ready to read some of their favorite tales. Another group of 4th graders were very interested in some of the more unusual or exotic religions such as Shintoism or Confucianism. They liked that the religions were so different from what they are used to experiencing and wanted to learn more about them.

I can hardly wait for next week when we can discuss the world of information contained within our Dewey 200s Religion section!

We Are Catholic!

Last month when the faculty attended Congress I picked up a few fun books for the library. I recently noticed our library is lacking in the religion section. Pretty shameful in my opinion. We are a Catholic school after all! Another thing I noticed is that our children aren't really looking at the religious books we do have. So I have kept and eye out for interesting, colorful, exciting and fun books on Catholicism as well as other religions. One book I found at Congress is An Alphabet of Catholic Saints by Brenda and George Nippert. I was particularly excited by this book because it had a companion poster to put in the library. The poster has the alphabet and picture of each saint represented by their first initial. I have already seen many children look for their first initial wanting to know what saint is theirs. Awesome! But what about the book?! It is actually a very simple picture book with the same alphabet/saint picture but it also has a rhyme and and a little background on the saint. I love looking at the colorful artwork and finding out quick and simple information about each saint represented.

So who do you think the saint is for The Falcon?

Come on I know you can guess it!


Yep, thats right! Saint Francis!!!!!! I think that is quite fitting since St. Francis loved animals.