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NOVEMBER 25, 2010

The most welcome news for this Fall is the decision by the Society`s superiors to assign three Oblate Sisters of the Society of Saint Pius X to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. One of the parishioners has most generously purchased them a house in the nearby town of Wellesley, which will become their convent. They are due to arrive after Christmas, when everything is suitably arranged.

The annual ping-pong tournament for Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy was held on Sunday October 24. Four ping pong tables were sent up in the gymnasium, so that the various age levels could play off for victory over a series of games, winners pl caying winners, in the various age groups, so as to receive the prizes. A great time was had by all the boarders and by the families that attended. Since then ping pong has become a regular activity, with the table set upon the gym stage.

Three of the four games going on simultaneously during the ping pong tourament in the school gymnasium.

A view of the procession with the Blessed Sacrament on the feast of Christ the King, around the school playgrounds. The school has yet to find a canopy for the Blessed Sacrament.

On the feast of Christ the King, October 31, the outdoor procession with the Blessed Sacrament, followed by the renewal of the consecration of the world to the Sacred Heart, gave solemnity to this great feast of Our Divine Savior’s Social Kingship. Then, the next day, November 1, feast of All Saints, was the day chosen for the children of the Eucharistic Crusade. During a special ceremony at the Offertory of High Mass, five children were received as Pages, three as Crusaders and four as Knights in the Eucharistic Crusade. This brought the number of members and postulants at Our Lady of Mount Carmel to forty-two, a record. If only, that number of treasure sheets were received every month, the pastor would be happy.

This photo shows the reception of new Pages and Crusaders in the Eucharistic Crusade, as Father Scott listens to their consecration and prepares to give the new Crusaders their pins.

Just a small selection of the saints that appeared on stage for the All Saints day party on Monday November 1, after the High Mass for All Saints. One of the highlights was a Scottish pirate turned Saint, St. Godric.

That same feast of All Saints, after a pot luck dinner, all the families retired to the gymnasium to witness the parade of the saints. The preschoolers were simply dressed as saints, and had to say who they were. However, all the other children had to memorize and describe by heart the life of their saint in the first person. There were some very interesting presentations of saints, and Father Scott is embarrassed to say how many he was unable to guess.

The following week was frantic, as the first quarter wound to its end on Friday November 5, the final and 45th day of the quarter, by a succession of tests, exams and due assignments. Finally the students could look forward to a weekend without homework! Meanwhile the house fathers calculated the merit and demerit points for each of the six houses in the boarding facility, and awarded the prize for best house for the quarter to St. Isaac Jogues house. The reward was a pizza dinner the following Sunday at pizza hut.

November was photograph month, with individual photos of each student and of each class being taken for the year book. Here is Mrs. Templeton with the eight grade boys' class.

This first quarter the faculty introduced a new computerized program for the report cards, especially designed by one of the parents. However, there were not a few glitches in the programming, and it was only on Tuesday November 16 that Father Scott was finally able to call in each student separately, and explain the report card that he was handing out. The following Friday, November 19, the parent-teacher meetings were scheduled, taking all afternoon in a much appreciated exchange of ideas.

On Sunday afternoon November 21, Father May organized the annual badminton tournament. Two courts were set up in the gymnasium and both boarders and parishioners teamed up in pairs to win the trophy – a new badminton racquet.

Meanwhile, the fundraisers continued with renewed effort. The chocolate selling has been intense and quite successful, and there remains little to sell of the 200 boxes. The raffle tickets for the Christmas raffle are also fast disappearing, this support being necessary to keep the school going.

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