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Engaging Faith

Practical Lesson Ideas and Activities for Catholic Educators
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All Souls’ Day and Why Catholics Pray for the Dead: A November Exercise

At the conclusion of most of our school-wide communal prayers at Bishop McNamara High School (Forestville, Maryland), we readily request “Saint André Bessette, pray for us! Blessed Basil Moreau, pray for us!” These two holy men of God (the first a humble Holy Cross Brother and the second the devout founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross) are powerful intercessors to whom the members of our high school community have a deep devotion, as we likewise do to Saint Joseph and Our Lady of Sorrows, in keeping with the charism of Holy Cross. Is your Catholic school named for any particular saint(s), or does it otherwise have a devotion to particular saints and/or blesseds? If so, do your students ever ask why you communally and collectively invoke their intercession to God in heaven? Similarly, does your Catholic educational institution pray for those loved ones within your extended school community who have passed away? November 1 and November 2 are two very special days in the liturgical life of the Church. On the one hand, we prayerfully ask the saints to intercede to God for us in a special way on All Saints’ Day (November 1), while on the other hand, we commemorate and pray for the souls of all of our faithful departed on All Souls’ Day (November 2). An interesting dynamic is that the latter of these two days likewise involves asking the saints in heaven to intercede to God for the dead whose souls might be in Purgatory. Beyond merely these two days, we can thus pray constantly throughout the year, although especially during the month of November. The theology teacher has the ability to rely on All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day as key opportunities to explain to students why (and how) the Catholic Church advocates for both asking for the intercession of the saints and praying for the dead (whose souls could be in Purgatory). There are numerous commonly-occurring misconceptions regarding the Church’s teachings on these profound theological topics, and they deserve thorough clarification. Of particular note, both practices are based on the duality of the Deposit of Faith – Sacred Scripture (stemming from passages in both the Old Testament and the New Testament) and Sacred Tradition (having been Church practice for nearly two-thousand years [and even earlier if we consider the broader expanse of salvation history]). Since previous posts have focused on All Saints’ Day, below are some resources on All Souls’ Day in more particular terms, which the theology teacher can use for deepening his or her content knowledge, as well as to foster classroom discussions regarding the Church’s practice of praying for the dead. There are many resources available, but here are some prominent ones that can help guide your discussions especially throughout the month of November: “All Saints and All Souls” by Fr. William Saunders (Courtesy of the Catholic Education Resource Center) “All Souls’ Day” (Courtesy of the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia) “What Catholics Believe: 10 Truths about Purgatory” by Valerie Schmalz, writing for Catholic San Francisco (the publication of the Archdiocese of San Francisco) The Section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church Regarding Purgatory (Paragraphs #1030-#1032)

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Happy Feast Day St. Andre Bessette!

Enjoy sharing some brief background on the life of St. Andre Bessette, a humble member of the Congregation of Holy Cross, and the prayer to St. Joseph, the one he was devoted to.The feast day of St. Andre Bessette is January 6.       Traditional Novena Prayer to St. Joseph Oh Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the Throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires. Oh Saint Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son, all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord, so that having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of fathers. Oh Saint Joseph, I never weary of contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms. I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me, and ask Him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath. Saint Joseph, Patron of the departing souls, pray for us. Amen.

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In Thanksgiving for You, from Ave Maria Press

  It is God's own hand which has guided everything, and He it is whom we must thank above all. Hence I beg you to unite your thanks with ours in order that we may draw down more abundant blessings from heaven upon our owrk, and above all, not stop their flow by want of gratitude.                                --Blessed Basil Moreau, founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross

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Congregation of Holy Cross Celebrates 175 Years!

Today is the 175th anniversary of the Congregation of Holy Cross. Ave Maria Press, one of the Congregation's sponsored ministries, joins in celebration. One of the unique features of the Congregation of Holy Cross was its co-mingling of religious priests and religious brothers. Eventually religious sisters joined in this partnership. The Congregation of Holy Cross has from its founding focused on religious education. Our efforts at Ave Maria Press are part of its continuing commitment in this area. We support and strive to make complete the words of the Congregation of Holy Cross founder, Blessed Basil Moreau: I have always understood the education of youth to be the formation of the hearts of young people and the development of a positive response toward religion within them. I have always been convinced that the first duty of any teacher is to produce Christians: Society has a greater need for people of values than it has for scholars. Knowledge itself does not bring about positive values, but positive values to influence knowledge and put it to a good use. If there ever existed a time when this type of education should be an influence in the lives of young people, it is certainly now—at a time when worldly and unchristian values seem to produce such confusion for the young. Christian education alone can influence the evil that we all experience in today's world. Christian education alone can return people to the belief in the practice of Christianity by inspiring values in the coming generations. — Bl. Basil Moreau, 1856  

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Brother André Bessette: First Holy Cross Saint!

We celebrate the impending canonization of Brother André Bessette, the first saint of the Congregation of Holy Cross!   Originally rejected from pursuing religious life because of poor health, when Alfred Bessette finally reached the door of the Holy Cross Brothers in 1870 he came with a note from his pastor that read, “I am sending you a saint.”   Called Brother André, he could barely read or write. He was assigned as a porter at the Congregation’s College of Notre Dame in Montreal, manning the door, scrubbing the floor, and working in the garden. His other responsibilities were to welcome guests, find the guests they were visiting, wake up the students for school, and deliver the mail. Many years later Brother André joked: “At the end of my novitiate, my superiors showed me the door, and I stayed there for forty years.”   People soon realized that Brother André had the gift of healing. He would often heal people by touching them or rubbing their bodies with oil from a lamp burning in front of the statue of St. Joseph to whom he had a special devotion.   In 1904 he asked the Archbishop of Montreal if he could have permission to build a chapel to St. Joseph on the mountain near the college. The Archbishop asked, “Are you having visions of St. Joseph telling you to build a church for him?” Brother André responded: “I have only my great devotion to St. Joseph to guide me.”   Permission was granted as long as Brother André promised not to go into debt. Brother André put a small dish with a sign that read “Donations for St. Joseph” on a picnic table with a statue of St. Joseph at the top of the mountain. He collected nickel donations when he gave haircuts to the boys who lived at the college.   When he had a few hundred dollars, Brother André built a small 15’ x 18’ wood shelter to keep the growing number of pilgrims who came to him from getting wet. In 1924 construction began on a larger building, the oratory. The Great Depression interfered with the project, but Brother André, at ninety, was able to be carried up the mountain to see a statue of St. Joseph placed in the unfinished, unroofed basilica. When he died on January 6, 1937 nearly a million mourners filed by his coffin. The oratory was completed in 1955.     For his healing powers, the Church declared Brother André venerable in 1978. In 1982 Pope John Paul II beatified Brother André.   Early in the Lenten season of 2010, on February 19, Pope Benedict XVI, announced the formal canonization of Brother André will take place in Rome on October 17.   Join us in marking this joyful occasion for the Congregation of Holy Cross and all its ministries, including Ave Maria Press!    Quotations from Brother André  “It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the best paintings.”    “Put your self in God’s hands; he abandons no one.”    “Practice charity with your neighbor—and this doesn’t mean only to give money to the poor. There are many ways to practice charity. We could, for example, keep ourselves from examining our neighbor’s conscience. There is also visiting the sick, who often do not need money, but who need good advice to help them get closer to God.”    “When you say to God, Our Father, he has his ear right next to your lips.”    “There is so little distance between heaven and earth that God always hears us. Nothing but a thin veil separates us from God.”     (Quotations are excerpted from Brother André: Friend of the Suffering, Apostle of Saint Joseph by Jean-Guy Dubuc, Ave Maria Press, 2010)

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Basil Moreau Scholarship Winner Announced

To help to celebrate the September 15 beatification of Fr. Basil A. Moreau, the founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross, Ave Maria Press, an apostolate of the Congregation, sponsored an essay contest celebrating Fr. Moreau's life and his commitment to Catholic education. Over 400 students from Catholic high schools entered the contest. We thank all the entrants and their teachers! The essays were judged by a team of Ave Maria Press editors and Fr. Tony Szakaly, C.S.C., Chairman of the Board of Ave Maria Press. The winner of a $500 scholarship, made payable to a Catholic high school or college, is Caroline Dzeba of Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron, Ohio. Caroline's theology teacher is Mr. Mike Burtscher. Caroline is a senior at Archbishop Hoban. She is a member of the varsity tennis team, president of the French Club, and editor of the school paper. She has not decided on where she will attend college but she has applied to Bryn Mawr, Northwestern, Georgetown, and the University of Notre Dame. Caroline's winning essay is shared below:   Engaging Minds, Hearts, and Hands for Faith: Father Basil A. Moreau's Vision for Education   As a young man who grew up during the turmoil of the French Revolution, Basil Anthony Moreau had a conviction that peace, citizenship, and love, so unlike what he witnessed in the war, truly had a place in the world. Guided by his Catholic faith and love of learning, Moreau was ordained a priest in 1821 and began his lifelong mission of teaching the mind and the heart. Since his founding of the Congregation of the Holy Cross in 1841, Father Moreau's mission has spread throughout the world, showing people of all ages how to live with their minds, hearts, and hands, and educating people wholly: mind and soul. Catholic high schools in the United States, particularly those affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross, work consistently to educate students both intellectually and spiritually. As Father Moreau once attested: "Society has a greater need for people of values than it has for scholars." The mission of Archbishop Hoban High School, just one of the myriad of Holy Cross schools in the world, clearly expresses a desire to live out Moreau's vision by "welcoming one another with the hospitality of Christ," as stated in the school's mission statement. The faculty and students of the Akron, Ohio school live out this commitment through their multiple community service projects, hospitality in welcoming new students, and dedication to academic excellence. Archbishop Hoban strives, like all Holy Cross schools, to honor the legacy of the Congregation of Holy Cross and Father Moreau. This holistic approach to education sometimes seems out of sync with society's "survival of the fittest" mentality. Holy Cross educators and missionaries continue, however, to instill the values of Father Moreau into their students' lives. The Congregation of Holy Cross works, as Father Moreau, envisioned, to not only teach students quantitative subjects, but how to behave as a disciple with "the competence to see and the courage to act." Whether it is simply leading by example or participating in religious retreats, Holy Cross students and educators allow Christ to enlighten their minds with intelligence, and, most importantly, they allow God to work in their lives as they truly become disciples. Father Moreau's legacy is one of the most commendable in recent memory. His actions created a domino effect of Holy Cross education the world over, showing countless students, parents, and teachers the value of faith with knowledge. At the time of his beatification in 2007, after his intercession led a Canadian woman to be healed of lung disease, Father Moreau's ministry has spread to every corner of the world. His commitment to educating the soul and mind lives on through his followers. Catholic high schools across the United States take this legacy to heart and work to ensure "a wonderful amount of good" is accomplished through the dual usage of intellect and compassion.   Also as part of our essay contest and celebration, Ave Maria Press is awarding a complete set of textbooks to the teacher with the most student entries. The winner is Ms. Sharon Tyree of Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California. Congratulations to Ms. Tyree and to Caroline and thank you again to all the participants!

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Basil Moreau Essay Contest A Great Success!

  It’s Friday, 3:42 EST, and there are 257 essays “Basil Moreau: Engaging, Minds, Hearts, and Hands for Faith” neatly stacked on my shelf. The essays have all been written by Catholic high school students in honor of Blessed Basil Moreau’s beatification on September 15 at Le Mans, France. Fr. Moreau was the founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross which sponsors Ave Maria Press. At this point, I’ve only glanced at their content, but from what I have read I’m much impressed. The mission of our religious education publishing is founded in the educational vision of Basil Moreau that pointed to a holistic learning approach in which “students try their learning in the world and so make prayers of their education.” The deadline for the scholarship essay contest is now only a few minutes away. I notice 15 more essays waiting to be opened in e-mails. To all the students who wrote essays and to their teachers who encouraged them—thank you very much! We will announce the scholarship winner at our annual Day of Enrichment for High School Theology Teachers at Notre Dame on October 3. In the meantime, here on the campus of Notre Dame, as we wind up the week, we look across the street and see the throngs of football fans gathered for tomorrow’s game with Michigan State. With the essay contest nearly complete, maybe I can ask you and Bl. Basil for one more favor: a few touchdowns for the Fighting Irish! Thanks again.

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The Holy Cross

The beatification of Holy Cross Father Basil A. Moreau this week coincides with the Feast of the Holy Cross on September 14. It is believed that the Feast of the Holy Cross has its origins to the year 355 when the Emperor Constantine dedicated the Church of the Holy Sepulcher over the site at Golgotha where Jesus died. Reportedly, Constantine’s mother, St. Helena, had traveled to Golgotha and found not only Christ’s cross, but those of the two thieves crucified next to him. The three crosses were then taken to the house of a dying woman where the true cross of Christ restored her to health. By 346 the relics of the cross discovered by St. Helena were on their way to different parts of the world. Part of the cross was placed in a statue of Constantine in the newly built city of Constantinople. More of the cross was subdivided and placed in church altars. (It used to be required that each altar have a holy relic, for example, the bones of a saint of martyr. Nowadays this is not a requirement as altars are seen to be dedicated to God alone. However, many church altars still have relics.) Crucifixion by cross was more violent than any form of capital punishment our society uses today. Actually, at the time of Jesus, the Romans had two forms of crucifixion. Roman citizens were beheaded. Foreigners like Jesus were forced to carry a single crossbeam outside the walls of the city to a place called Golgotha (Skull Place) where the upright posts remained permanently fixed. Many times the weight of the crossbeam would kill the person; in Jesus’ case he was so weakened by the beatings and abuse he had absorbed that another man, Simon of Cyrene, was permitted to help him carry it. Once hung or tied on the cross, Roman soldiers would often break the legs of the condemned. This did not happen to Jesus. Sometimes a soldier would lance the person’s side to hasten death. In Jesus’ case, when his side was lanced—and water flowed out with blood—he was already dead. Only John’s Gospel mentions that Jesus was nailed to the cross. This practice, too, is confirmed by archaeological finds. It seems the Romans had refined this torture so that the cross included a small seat, called the seidle, where the accused could support just one buttock while spikes were driven through his hands and feet. The torture was unbearable. Besides the obvious pain, insects were attracted to the open wounds, and Jesus would have been unable to shoo them away. The cross is a great paradox, or contradiction, because out of this misery of death is new life for all who are baptized and believe in Christ. As St. Paul wrote: “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Cor 1:18) Discussion Questions What do you think was the worst pain that Jesus experienced? What would you say to a convicted murderer to convince him of the dignity of human life? Explain why the Holy Cross is a great paradox. Assignments   Read and report on the life of St. Helena. Search for quotations on the meaning of the cross for Christian life. Record these quotations in a prayer journal. Read Pope John Paul II’s encyclical “The Gospel of Life” (especially no. 56). Outline the Church’s position on capital punishment.   Don’t forget the Basil Moreau Essay Contest with a $500 Scholarship prize. Deadline is Friday September 21!

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