Montgomery Catholic Preparatory school turned a typical Friday into a celebration for its students! All Saint’s Day was celebrated on November 1, followed by All Souls Day on November 2. MCPS celebrates all Holy Feast days but wanted to make this one extra special for their students. The goal of this celebration was to bring liveliness to the faith so that the students may feel inspired to live out their lives in Christ. The initiative was developed by Montgomery Catholic’s Vice-Principal Laura Reilly and Director of Faith Formation Tom Riello. Ms. Reilly has lived all over the world, serving the International school community as both a teacher and a school leader. She drew her inspiration from her travels, specifically the many Mexican feast day celebrations.
The students at MCPS kicked off the week by choosing one patron saint per classroom during their second-period class. The students designed a saint name card and displayed them in the hallways outside each classroom. Throughout the week, teachers presented lessons about their patron saint. History teachers provided lessons about their room saint in a historical and geographical context. English teachers taught lessons using a piece of literature or film written about or by their classroom saint. In theology class, teachers taught about the lives of their chosen saint. On Friday the marching band performed “When the Saints Go Marching In ” and the choir performed “He Never Failed Me Yet” for the Middle School students. Middle School Assistant Principal Mrs. Julie Wood and Middle School Counselor Mrs. Mary Kelly served the refreshments provided by our MCPS PTC mothers.
Pope Gregory III established All Saints Day as an official holy day of obligation after dedicating a chapel to all of the saints in Saint Peter’s in Rome on November 1 (731-741). After the chapel was dedicated, November 1 became the official All Saint’s Day. This day honors all saints, known and unknown. Although many canonized saints have their feast day, All Saints Day seeks to honor ALL saints, both canonized and not.
