Best of the Week 2020-2021: Holy Cross Values

ST. ED'S COMMUNITY PARTICIPATES IN FIRST VIRTUAL ALL-SCHOOL MASS

On Tuesday, students, faculty and staff joined together for the first-ever virtual all-school mass to celebrate the feast day of St. Edward the Confessor. To maintain communal celebration while upholding safety procedures, Mass was livestreamed from the Holy Family Chapel so student advisories could participate in the liturgy and receive Communion throughout the building and in their classrooms while social distancing.

"St. Ed's has always felt that celebrating the Eucharist together is a central and critical part of our mission and identity as a Catholic school," says Campus Minister Cari White. "The Catholic Church refers to the Eucharistic Liturgy as the 'source and summit of the Christian Faith,' and we wanted to make sure we were continuing to provide this for our students."

Using streaming technology and the proper platforms, students assisted in filming and producing the livestream Mass. Teachers and staff members were given symbols of the faith including crosses and candles to add reverence to their classrooms and celebrant Fr. Bob Stec from St. Ambrose Parish and the Liturgical Choir presented an engaging and uplifting Mass experience for the community.

"We need to give special thanks to the hard work of Lisa Hirzel in ensuring the safe participation and performance of our Liturgical Choir, Nathan Hardin for his assistance with our sound equipment, Rylan Campbell and James Millar for their help in setting up the streaming service, and our student ministers who helped with everything from readings to Communion distribution," says Ms. White. "Taking on something new like this is an important team effort. I'm grateful to be a part of a community that recognizes the central importance of celebrating mass with our students and is willing to do what we need to in order to make it happen."