FREDERICK – Jose Feliz, a seventh grader at St. John Regional Catholic School, Frederick, held a wooden rosary given to him by his grandmother for his birthday as he and some 250 fifth- through eighth-grade students sat on the grass and prayed in the school’s Mary Garden May 23.
The special prayer gathering, held before dismissal, was led by Father John Williamson, pastor of St. John the Evangelist, Frederick, and St. Joseph on Carrollton Manor, Buckeystown. It was a solemn way of ending a month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“It’s really nice to do this with my classmates and to have a priest come and do it for the entire middle school,” Jose said. “I’ve really gotten to use it now that we’ve had these few times that we’re able to pray the rosary as a school.”
Jose said it was special to use the rosary that was given to him as a birthday gift from his grandmother.
“It means a lot that I can have an object (the rosary) even after she’s gone,” he explained. “I can look back and remember the moments I had with her.”
Father Williamson said he prays the rosary with students during the Marian months of May and October.
“For a lot of them it’s a new, first experience,” Father Williamson said. “Hopefully, they learn that this is a great prayer for them and something they can carry with them.”
Dr. Annette Jones, school principal, said the first through fourth grades also have opportunities to participate in age-appropriate rosary time for a better understanding of the prayer. She noted that about 20 percent of the school’s 619 students are not Catholic. The school works to educate students of all backgrounds about what the rosary is and how it is prayed, she said.
Like Jose, other students bring special prayer beads with them when they pray the rosary together. Jones said she asks her students about their rosaries when she sees them being carried in school.
School leaders said they try to raise awareness about a variety of Catholic devotions. An outdoor Stations of the Cross garden was installed May 20 as an Eagle Scout project by Braedon Smith, St. John Catholic Regional Catholic School graduate and Mount St. Joseph High School rising senior.
Embossed plaques highlighting each station are lifted on stands along a small treeline, complementing space students take advantage of during lunch and other activities.
“Spirituality is an essential part of the foundation of the school,” Jones said. “It’s a very special part of the school experience.”
Email Kevin J. Parks at kparks@CatholicReview.org
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