Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools expressed their gratitude this holiday season in a variety of ways that served, elevated, and demonstrated God’s compassionate love. From donated food and clothes, to toy drives, fundraisers, mission trips, and various service activities, our XBSS students, staff, and families followed the Xaverian way, making themselves available to live out a spirit of thanks.
At Lowell Catholic, students in Mrs. Dupre’s advisory made cards and lap blankets for the Lowell VA and students collected over 800 needed items for the Salvation Army. Malden Catholic held a turkey fundraiser and prayer service. Saint Bernard School’s student council donated nearly 1,000 items weighing 680 pounds to help feed local families. Xaverian Brothers High School, Nazareth Regional High School and Mount Saint Joseph High School also hosted food drives. At Saint John’s High School, families gathered hats, gloves, and gift cards for people in need. Xavier High School’s Ryken Society hosted a cranberry sauce and gravy drive for the Middletown Community Thanksgiving Project, donating over 200 cans of cranberry sauce and 200 jars of gravy. The entire freshman class at Our Lady of Good Counsel hosted a Thanksgiving basket drive, collecting food to create baskets for a nearby residential house for adults with disabilities. Over 200 blankets were collected by students at St. Xavier High School for Blanket Louisville.
St, Xavier also donated coats and gloves for Catholic Charities Migration & Refugee Services, gift cards for Norton Children’s Hospital, and toiletries for Saint Vincent DePaul. Senior Eric Palazzao, along with his Civil Air Patrol Cadet Squadron, exceeded a goal of 250 Remembrance Wreaths for Zachary Taylor National Cemetery by well over 300.
Kentucky was also served by St. Mary’s Ryken in Maryland who sent their Principal, Dean of Students, and several students on a service trip to Beattyville, an area hit hard by flooding last year. The trip’s goal was to make Christmas brighter for over 500 residents in the surrounding counties and to decorate Ms. Dora Keystone Croner Ministries for her annual Christmas gathering. The ministry is a distribution center to area families in need of coats, gloves, toys, and food.
St. John’s Prep hosted a gift card drive to benefit local food pantries. Lazarus House partnered with the school to provide their guests with $25 Market Basket gift cards, helping nearly 2,000 families purchase culturally relevant food for their holiday meals. A clothing drive and bake sale at Xaverian High School helped two organizations that work with women in need while 18 students and four teachers embarked on a service retreat to Camden, NJ at the Romero Center Ministries, helping the disadvantaged.
Across the XBSS network, Founder’s Week was celebrated with a myriad of activities and events that honored the Xaverian Brothers founder, Theodore James Ryken, culminating with the Feast Day and celebration of the congregation’s patron saint, St. Francis Xavier.
St. John’s Prep commemorated the legacy of the Brothers and Xavierian education in the U.S. with campus ministry and community formation teams providing the community an opportunity to reflect on Ryken’s legacy, St. Francis Xavier, and the Brothers’ mission to serve as educators in the world. Activities included a visit from Xaverian Brothers High School students from the Francis Xavier Division of XBHS, an afternoon with Brothers on campus, a Founder’s Day liturgy with Father John Unni, and a Build-a-Bed community service effort for the MA Coalition for the homeless.
Founder’s Day liturgies reminded XBSS communities of the many blessings they share – rooted deeply in simplicity, trust, compassion, humility, and zeal.
As the schools brought 2022 to a close, all celebrated their unique Catholic and Xaverian Brothers mission.
