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Cistercian and Rays of Light

November 28, 2018 | Community Service, Media

Want to know what happens to all that pizza money on Tuesdays? All the profits from pizza sales on Tuesdays in the first quarter were donated to Rays of Light, a charity serving children with special needs and their families. On November 16, several Cistercian students from Forms V, VI and VII went with Fr. John to serve at Rays of Light.  While they were there, they ran into the Saliga family, whose son attends the program as a guest! The evening began at 5:30 with a raffle and dinner for the volunteers, and then the games kicked off at 6:00pm as the guests began to arrive. Throughout the night the students and their new friends enjoyed basketball and board games, ate birthday cake, watched a movie, played with therapy dogs and – best of all – warred with special light sabers created by a balloon artist. Everyone had a great time serving on the evening before Thanksgiving break. Before leaving, they delivered the check for over $600 to Robin Wilson, Executive Director. Students interested in joining the fun next time can check MobileServe for further details!

Hawk Happenings

Colleges on Campus

37 colleges and universities joined us on campus, giving our Upper School students the opportunity to connect with admissions representatives from across the country.

Alumni in Hungary

CPS graduates, now studying in Rome, made a stop in Hungary to explore their Cistercian heritage. Hayden, Nam, and Max (CPS Class of ’24) met up with Fr. John Bayer in Budapest. Max even brought his Cistercian hat.

Confirmation

Fr. Abbot Peter administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to 39 Cistercian boys in the Abbey Church.

Experience Cistercian

Publications

What is happening in the liturgy?

Every morning, monks and nuns — and many lay people — arise early for morning prayer. The Latin name for this prayer, “laudes,” means “praises.” Often the psalms that make up morning prayer are indeed full of expressions of praise. One has inspired in me a reflection on the liturgy.

‘Blessed are you among women…’

Elizabeth’s words to Mary form the bridge from the Annunciation to the Visitation in the Hail Mary prayer: “Blessed are you among women, and blest is the fruit of your womb” (Lk 1:42). After Mary’s hasty journey to her kinswoman, she, carrying Jesus in her womb-ark, receives an exuberant welcome from Elizabeth and John the Baptist. The unborn babies, Jesus and John, meet for the first time as their mothers embrace.

The challenge of truth for Catholics navigating today’s world

We have all surely experienced how difficult it can be to engage socially and politically as Catholics. Our faith pushes us into the uncomfortable position of prophetically challenging all political parties and calling everyone to conversion. Today, it can be especially difficult to exercise this prophetic mission, simply because the situations we should critique — the basic facts of the matter and their context — can be so difficult to ascertain (and contemporary media sadly makes our task even more difficult). This is a serious difficulty, since Jesus commands us not to judge by appearances (cf. Jn 7:24).