A couple of weeks ago the students at St. Charles Catholic School started a very special project. Kathy Wille, a former teacher at St. Charles, came to me with an idea in September to help students and their families learn more about the power of praying the rosary at home. Kathy had spent countless hours in prayer trying to determine how she could share her love of the Blessed Mother with the St. Charles School Community. Her prayers were answered when she determined the best way to share her love of Mary was to put a rosary in the hands of families each week.
Kathy took it upon herself to secure one rosary for each classroom and one booklet about how to pray the rosary for each student. We met and came up with a plan that would allow one student from each classroom to take the rosary home each week. During that week, the student’s family could pray the rosary and then record their thoughts on the prayer diary. Every Monday the rosary would be handed over to another student in the classroom.
On Monday, October 19, Kathy presented the rosaries to each classroom and shared her love of Mary and her love of praying the rosary with the students. On October 20, at the end of the all school Mass, Father Totton called the students who were taking the classroom rosary home for the first time up to the altar. He blessed the rosaries and the students took them home that afternoon.
In late spring, each classroom will decide which student should receive the classroom rosary. Students may choose anyone. The recipients will receive the rosary at the May Crowning ceremony in May.
Our hope is that families will take part in this special project by praying the rosary as a family and then recording their thoughts or feelings on the classroom prayer diary. I am grateful that Kathy came to me with this idea and very appreciative of Father Totton’s support of this new project. The rosary is a powerful prayer tool. I hope that as you say the rosary you will keep our students, parents, and faculty members in your prayers.
- Ann Lachowitzer, Principal