IRISH WEEKLY

Campus Ministry

We will be celebrating the Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes with a whole school Mass on Tuesday, February 11 at 9:30 am. We hope you will join us, virtually. Fr. Ryan Mann, Pastor from St. Basil in Brecksville, will be here to celebrate Mass with us. You can read about the apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes to St. Bernadette here. During her visits, Our Lady asked St. Bernadette to pray the rosary every day. Let's honor Our Lady and try to do this. Check out this Rosary in a Year Podcast, which will help give you new insight into the recitation of the rosary.

Be sure to mark February 19 (6-8pm) on your calendar for our next Marianist LIFE Night. We will have a special speaker, Dina Podner, who will be sharing about Dating and Waiting: Your Guide to Faith-Focused Dating.

Seniors don't forget that the application deadline for the March Kairos is Feb. 28. You need to get your application and money in ASAP to secure your spot. See the section below for the application. Please students and parents, don't let the cost be the reason you don't attend Kairos. If cost is a factor for you, please email Mrs. Goshe.

I would love to continue to form more Sodality Small Faith Sharing Groups. These are single sex groups of any grade level that meet once every other week to share and grow in faith. These groups are led by a younger adult Catholic mentor. We currently have 5 small groups up and running with 31 students sharing faith. You don't need to be Catholic or feel strong in your faith to consider forming or joining a Sodality Small Faith Sharing Group. Please reach out to me if you this sounds like something you want to know more about. There is also a section below with more information about these groups.

With HOPE,

Mrs. Goshe

Director of Campus Ministry

Updates & Info

Some important things to note:

Feb. 11 Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes - Whole School Mass at 9:30am. Fr. Ryan Mann, Pastor of St. Basil the Great in Brecksville, will be our celebrant.
Feb. 19 - Marianist LIFE Night on Faith-focused Dating. 6-8pm in LRC.
Feb. 19 -21 Nourish & Flourish for Junior & Senior Young Women & Juniors/Seniors Guys Talk in Theology Classes
Feb. 21 - Adoration will be in the Chapel from 8:30am - 2:00pm Here is the Sign-Up Genius link.
Feb. 28 - Deadline for applications for March Kairos. To secure your spot, get those applications and money in! See the section below for the application or stop by Mrs. Goshe's office.
Consider joining our meal ministry for Marianist LIFE. These meals are truly a highlight of Marianist LIFE each month. To join our SignUp/mailing list, please email Barbara McKnight at mcknighteb@windstream.net.
Snacks are always welcome in Campus Ministry. Fruit snacks, granola bars, and individual bags of chips are popular. Thank you in advance for your help.
Sodality Groups: We are looking to start a female freshman/sophomore group, a junior/senior male group, and a junior/senior female group. What do you think? Is this you? Please email Mrs. Goshe if this is you. Also see the section below to learn more so you can discern if this is for you. If you also know of a younger Catholic who is striving to grow in holiness and could be a good mentor, please email Mrs. Goshe and let her know.

Attention Seniors: Kairos

Kairos Retreat is a retreat that truly celebrates and culminates our seniors' time here at STVM. It is an experience that many of our past seniors have shared was their best experience at STVM. Kairos means "God's Time" and is a retreat led by students for students. The talks and exercises of this retreat center around the revelation of God's love as we experience it in our lives. Adults participate as co-workers with a student team that is built from previous attendees of a Kairos retreat. These 4 day/3 night retreats are held at Loyola Retreat House in Clinton, OH.

The remaining date for Kairos Retreats this year is:

March 23 - 26 (deadline for application and payment: Feb. 28)

Kairos Applications and Retreat Forms are available to print here and are also available to pick up in the Campus Ministry office. Kairos Leaders will be speaking in Theology classes and answering questions, but If you have any questions, please reach out to Mrs. Goshe.

Sodality Small Faith Sharing Groups

3 New Sodality groups have begun! We are looking to start a female freshman/sophomore group, a junior/senior male group, and a junior/senior female group. What do you think? Is this you? Please email Mrs. Goshe if this is you.

Campus Ministry is seeking students interested in forming small faith sharing groups. The groups will be single-sex groups of 5 to no more than 8. The groups will commit to meeting for one hour, once per week. A Catholic mentor from outside the STVM community will, after receiving both ministry training and VIRTUS (the Diocesan program, Protecting God's Children) training, journey in faith with the small group. Groups will do an initial study and then, working with their mentor, determine the next faith step activity.

Students interested in learning more or becoming a member of a Sodality Small Faith Sharing Group should complete this Google form. If any students or parents have any questions about this new endeavor, please email Mrs. Goshe.

Join our Meal Ministry

Thank you to all who donated sweet and salty treats for our January LIFE Night! Your generosity and time are very much appreciated and the students really enjoy the fellowship. Please check back soon for the SignUp for our February meeting.

All parents are invited to join the meal ministry for Marianist LIFE Nights. Each month, a group of parents plan and donate items to create a nice meal so that our students can gather in fellowship and nourish their bodies before they nourish their souls! Please consider donating an item or your time to help serve. These meals are truly a highlight of Marianist LIFE each month. To join our SignUp/mailing list, please email Barbara McKnight at mcknighteb@windstream.net

MARIANIST MOMENT

This month of January, we will celebrate the three primary Founders of the Marianist Order: Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, Marie Thérèse Charlotte de Lamourous, and Blessed Sister Adèle de Batz de Trenquelléon. They wanted to bring Catholicism back to France after the French Revolution, and they knew that the Blessed Mother was the model and means to help to point others to her Son, Jesus. Please read more about them here or click here to watch a video instead.

Here is the latest Marianist Family Publication.

This article will also help you get to know Blessed William Joseph Chaminade better.

We invite and encourage you to download the Marianist App for lots of great resources and information.

It is also important to understand why we, as Catholics, hold Mary in high esteem, call her our Mother, and ask for her intercession. This short video with Fr. Mike Schmitz gives a good introduction and explanation to help us to understand our relationship with Mary.

Students Should Download Hallow App and Login

We have been blessed with a donor who has made it possible for us to have the Hallow App for Schools. Hallow is the #1 Prayer App that is a great resource for strengthening the spiritual and mental health of the school community. All of our faculty, staff, and students have access to Hallow for the entire school year. It is a beautiful prayer tool with so many resources to use. Hallow is an incredible resource! Students should download the app today and follow these instructions below to log in.

Here is how to log into Hallow to start using it today:

1) Download the Hallow app, or log in at http://app.hallow.com

2) Click Log in with Google

3) Enter your school email address

4) You should have access

Prayer Opportunities

Campus Ministry would like to continue to increase the amount opportunities offered to pray together. If you are interested in learning more about any of these opportunities, please email Mrs. Goshe.

Monday - Pray the Litany for Students (together or alone and wherever you are)

Tuesday - Divine Mercy Chaplet - 3pm - Pray it using Hallow App

Wednesday - 5 Minute Prayer in the LRC immediately after school

Thursday - 15 Minute Lectio Divina/Scripture Study during lunches in Campus Ministry Office

Friday - First Friday Masses at 7:15am, every other Friday Rosary at 7:25am. All day Adoration 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month (parents welcome).

Campus Ministry Theme, Mission and Vision

THEME - NEW FOR 2024-25 - H.O.P.E. - which is an acronym for: Helping Others Pursue Eternity. This year, Campus Ministry is hoping to help our students not only pursue their own eternity, but also continue to learn how to share their faith to help others pursue eternity too. St. Padre Pio and his saying, "Pray, hope, and don't worry," will be used as we journey in faith through the year. The Jubilee Year of Hope begins with the Year of Prayer, and so, we will help others prepare for eternity as we learn and share how to grow in relationship with God through prayer. Here is a special Litany Prayer to pray each Monday for all our students.

MISSION - Teach, share, support, and live the Mission of St. Vincent- St. Mary and the Marianist Characteristics of Education with an emphasis on invitation and hospitality.

VISION - Every day, every person, every interaction, an encounter with Christ.

Service Update

SERVICE UPDATE from Mr. Larlham: Students have asked about how to log our service hours. Here is what students should do:

Log into MobileServe.com using your STVM/Google credentials. Freshman have an email in their inbox from TeamMobileServe that will help them claim their account.
If it is your first time logging in (transfers and freshmen), the website will ask you for a School Code, but you can just "skip this" step.
Similarly, MobileServe wants your phone number as a way to verify your identity.
On the home screen, there is a big blue button that will lead you to a few questions about any service hours you do.
It is important that you provide an email address for whomever is supervising your service. Again, MobileServe will ask you for that as you log your service hours.

Lastly, we are making an important change to our service hour classification this year for Sophomores and Freshman. All students are expected to complete 25 service hours this year. For Juniors and Seniors, you are still expected to complete at least 15 of those hours off campus at local non-profit organizations. Sophomores, you are expected to complete at least 10 hours off campus, and Freshmen are expected to complete at least five hours off campus.

Please email Mr. Larlham (dlarlham@stvm.com) or find him during the school day (Room 231 on Green Days, Room 234 on Gold Days) if you have any questions. Please also see the list of sites where you can complete your service below under the service section of this newsletter.

Service Opportunities

If students have been earning service hours over the summer, we will be sharing with them how to be sure to log everything. Mr. Larlham, who is in charge of Service at STVM, along with our Administrative Team will also be sharing with all students and families about service with the STVM community as the school year begins.

Here are links to several service locations in the Akron area:

Akron Canton Food Bank

Queen of Heaven Parish Labre Ministry (Green, OH)

ACEing Autism

ATC (All-star Training Club) through UDS

Akron Metro Parks

Cuyahoga Falls Good Neighbors

St. Bernard Hunger Programs

Akron Ronald McDonald House

Catholic Worker Akron

Summa Teen Volunteer Program

Upcoming Dates

Feb. 7 - First Friday Mass 7:15am Chapel

Feb. 7 - Adoration - Chapel 8:30am - 1:30pm

Feb. 11 - Our Lady of Lourdes - Whole school Mass 9:30am

Feb. 19 - Marianist LIFE Night, 6-8pm LRC

Feb. 21 - Rosary at 7:20am in the Chapel

Feb. 21 - Adoration in the Chapel

Feb. 28 - March Kairos Applications Due

Feb. 28 - Rosary at 7:20am in the Chapel

Volunteer and Support Campus Ministry

Volunteer Opportunities

SUPPLY SNACKS: for our Campus Ministry Office (granola bars, bags of chips, and fruit snacks are wildly popular). Please consider sending us a box or two of granola bars, etc. Donations may be dropped off to the Main Office; please clearly label for Campus Ministry. THANK YOU!
DONATE CASH/FOOD: for Marianist LIFE Night. Email Mrs. McKnight if interested.