Alliance for Catholic Education
Every calendar year, the Church moves promptly in its liturgical schedule to celebrate saints who inspire and support teachers and educational leaders. ACE traditionally calls our community's attention to the feast days on January 4, 5, and 6—honoring St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. John Neumann, and St. André Bessette, respectively, who all served Catholic education and people at the periphery of life, but in different ways.
Jan. 4: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
The feast of Mother Seton on January 4 invites us to ponder this saint's life (1774-1821) of dual commitments to education and caring for society's at-risk children. In a podcast conversation produced last year, ACE's Sarah Perkins talked with Coordinator of Policy and co-author of Lost Classroom, Lost Community, Nicole Stelle Garnett, about the winding road Mother Seton followed in discerning and exercising her complex vocation. It wasn't easy, but she remained open to Providence and founded America's first parish school. This launch of Catholic schools in the United States has blessed countless families from all backgrounds.
Jan. 5: St. John Neumann
St. John Neumann, C.Ss.R., was a native of the present-day Czech Republic. He traveled to America, was ordained a priest, and became Bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. He oversaw the construction of numerous parishes and schools for immigrants, founding the first Catholic diocesan school system in the United States. ACE senior director John Schoenig discussed Neumann's life as shepherd and school-builder in this podcast conversation with ACE's Bill Schmitt, pointing out the mission to form saints among ACE Teachers, as well as among the children we serve. The Church's January 5 feast is an opportunity to reflect upon the teaching vocation as a journey shared with others.
Jan. 6: St. André Bessette
On January 6, St. André Bessette (1845-1937), a religious brother in the Congregation of Holy Cross, is celebrated for his unique ministry to the sick and marginalized, which grew miraculously even as he humbly served a Catholic school in Montreal—as a porter, not a teacher. In a third podcast conversation prepared for the 2015 feasts, ACE's Emily Lazor talked with director of spiritual life Rev. Lou DelFra, C.S.C., about Brother André's ability to transcend apparent dead ends for himself and others, plus a humility that allowed many lights to shine.
The message of overcoming life's obstacles and pursuing big dreams through the blessings of Catholic schools echoes from all three saints and applies to both educators and students. The lives of numerous other education-related saints honored throughout the liturgical year (here's one source's listing) keep the message resounding.
Pope Francis affirmed the message recently at the Vatican's international congress on Catholic schooling, "Education Today and Tomorrow: A Passion that is Renewed," convened in Rome in November. He championed educators' sustained passion to encourage at-risk students by rising above the merely material and immediate.
"We are closed to transcendence," the Pope said of many classrooms, cautioning that this is the greatest crisis in Christian education. "It is necessary to prepare hearts for the Lord to manifest Himself--but totally, namely, in the totality of humanity, which also has this dimension of transcendence." He urged teachers "to educate humanly but with open horizons."
Our three early-January saints start off the year with a big "amen" to Pope Francis; they transcended the commonplace for the sake of their students, exhibiting a passion today's teachers can renew year-round—with ongoing human and heavenly intercession.