Gracious Providence: St. Michael’s School Thirtieth Anniversary
Rev. Fr. John Brucciani, Headmaster
Saint Michael’s will soon be celebrating its thirtieth anniversary. Despite multiple challenges over the years, God’s gracious providence has worked many miracles. St. Michael’s has persevered in its vocation to provide parents with a means of fulfilling their very serious obligations to preserve and nurture their children’s Catholic Faith.
It might be useful to remind readers of Pius XI’s words in his famous encyclical on Education:
We renew and confirm the declarations of our predecessors (Pius IX and Leo XIII) as well as the Sacred Canons in which the frequenting of non-Catholic schools, whether neutral or mixed, those namely which are open to Catholics and non-Catholics alike, is forbidden for Catholic children, and can be at most tolerated, on the approval of the Ordinary alone, under determined circumstances of place and time, and with special precautions.
Neither can Catholics admit that other type of mixed school, (least of all the so-called ‘école unique’—obligatory on all), in which the students are provided with separate religious instruction, but receive other lessons in common with non-Catholic pupils from non-Catholic teachers.1
Although written a hundred years ago, Pius XI’s injunctions may not be discarded as a relic of the past. Truth is timeless and does not age. On the contrary, the pope’s words have become more pressing with time.
There is no doubt that, in the current educational climate, a child stands little chance of persevering in the Faith. Sex Education is now compulsory in all secondary schools regardless of parental opposition. Children can learn about all sorts of things that harm their souls, both in and out of the classroom, and parents are powerless to protect them.
The Society of Saint Pius X invests significant resources throughout the world to provide Catholic schools to the faithful. These schools are the fruit of the prayers and sacrifices of parents, teachers and benefactors alike. They are a tremendous blessing and a token of God’s provident protection. He truly does hear your prayers.
In the light of papal teaching, parents are under the grave obligation to examine how they can fulfil their obligations as educators. Parents should remember that their decision in choosing a school for their children will, in most cases, determine not only their child’s temporal future but also, and more importantly, their chances of eternal salvation.
It is important to remember that, as custodians of baptised souls, parents have charge of children who first belong to God. And as the popes have made repeatedly clear, it can be grievously sinful to confide what belongs to God to an institution that does not believe in Him but does believe in may other things harmful to the soul.
Saint Michael’s School is open to all Catholic families desirous of God’s grace for their children. It offers a solid academic, moral and spiritual formation to primary and secondary pupils in the company of priests and teachers for whom our Lord Jesus Christ is everything. It provides a boarding house for boys from anywhere in the country. It provides bursaries to families who do not have the financial resources required to send their children to a Catholic school. No family should feel that it is not for them. Our pupils do not come from privileged backgrounds, but from families that want a truly Catholic education for their children. We are here to give Christ to your children. Our Lord said: “Whatsoever you do to one of these little ones, you do to Me.” It is not good to send Jesus to a place where His heavenly Father is neither recognised nor honoured.
For more information about St. Michael’s School, visit the website or email the headmaster, Fr. John Brucciani.
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- 1Pius XI, Encyclical Divini Illius Magistri, 1929