Spiritual Enrichment

 

Our Catholic faith is an essential part of life at Saint Ambrose School. The call to worship, witness, and serve is manifested in a wide variety of ways. Students, faculty and staff pray together at the beginning and end of each school day, and students pray in their individual classrooms at various times during the day. The school community gathers often for prayer and liturgical celebrations, including weekly Mass, the Living Rosary in October and May, weekly Advent prayer services, and Stations of the Cross each week during Lent.

Students receive daily instruction in the Catholic faith from teachers who have religious certification from the diocese. Our pastor and parochial vicar teach weekly lessons, and offer students an opportunity to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation regularly. Their presence in the school provides a regular witness to the faith and an invitation for families to become involved in parish life.

Students are well prepared to receive the sacraments of Penance and First Communion in second grade and Confirmation in eighth grade.  Second graders make a pilgrimage to the Seton Shrine in Emmitsburg during the year they receive their First Holy Communion.  To prepare for Confirmation, our eighth graders go on an all-day retreat.

Daily religion classes and faith-filled teachers communicate, by instruction and example, the beauty, history, tenets, challenges and joy of our faith to our students. The many service projects, including food and clothing drives, and fundraisers to aid the poor and victims of natural disasters, instill in the students a sense of mission and concern for others. The staff, parents, and students work together to promote an atmosphere of respect, responsibility and spirituality.

For seventh and eighth grade students, the parish youth group provides additional enjoyable faith-building activities.  Middle school students are welcome volunteers in a variety of parish and diocesan project and activities.