For the second consecutive year, Hilliard St. Brendan the Navigator School completed a living rosary as part of its House System. This year, the living rosary coincided with the diocese’s all-school rosary on Wednesday, Oct. 22.
St. Brendan’s four Houses, named after North American saints, focus on the pillars of faith, service and spirit.
“The House system gives us a chance to focus on areas of our community that can’t really be addressed within the academic classroom,” said Marguerite Arciaga, library media specialist at St. Brendan.
“With that in mind, we have been dreaming of doing a living rosary for a couple years, and it just hadn’t quite come together. “Last year was the first year that we completed a living rosary in October. And we wanted to make it in October to fit with the Month of the Rosary and have our whole school celebrate it.
The school’s Houses completed the living rosary last year several days after the diocese’s all-school rosary. But this year the diocesan rosary took place at the same time as St. Brendan’s House meeting time.
Arciaga said the school wanted to go above and beyond the spirit of the diocesan rosary and create a program that was engaging for students and was hands on while involving the entire school community.
While Bishop Earl Fernandes led the diocesan rosary from St. Joseph Cathedral, St. Brendan’s living rosary had four simultaneous rosaries going that were run by House leaders, who are middle school students. Each House had buddies pairing an older student with a younger student to pray a bead of the rosary in front of their House.
The rosary was preceded by a school Mass on Wednesday morning.
For this year’s rosary, the school added a visual element.
“We wanted the living rosary to be tangible and visible for our students,” Arciaga said. “I think that helps them connect what we’re doing to the larger impact.
“For the living rosary, when the students entered the room where we prayed the rosary, each buddy pair was handed a colored ring that corresponded with their House color. Then, each pair brought their ring to a House leader and the whole House could watch this rosary chain being built as we prayed it.”
She said it helped younger students have a visual connection to the rosary as well as play an active role while praying.
All four House rosaries took place at the same time.
“I think this was really important for us as a community to take the time to pray,” Arciaga said. “And that for us is why we wanted to make the rosary a priority, and to make it kind of the center of our school.
“The impact across the school is that classes paused, everyone was focused on the same goal. Teachers, aides, everyone had a part to play in the rosary. Everyone was equal within that moment. And I think that was really powerful for us to spend that time together in prayer.”
Third grade teacher Megan Isenbarger said the living rosary beautifully reflected the pillars of community and faith.
“Watching our older buddies guide and support their younger partners was truly special,” she said. “And, of course, Spirit ties it all together — reminding us that while we belong to different Houses, at our core, we are one united St. Brendan family.”
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