Icons help express the faith at Juan Diego CHS

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DRAPER — Icons of seven saints now adorn the theology classrooms at Juan Diego Catholic High School.

The classroom icons came about last fall, after the Theology and Campus Life departments commissioned a number of icons to be displayed around campus, said John O’Neill, the school’s theology department head. “The saints depicted in these icons are so important to each theology teacher that we have decided to make each saint the patron of their own classroom.”

The classroom icons were blessed in a gathering in the school auditorium attended by students and faculty.

“While ceremonies to bless private objects, like rosaries, prayer cards and personal sacramentals are often done in small, intimate settings, objects displayed for public veneration (like icons, crucifixes, or reliquaries) ought to be blessed in public,” O’Neill said.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines Christian iconography as expressing “in images the same Gospel message that Scripture communicates by words.”

Those images and words help express the faith, and “it is important to have faith present in our daily lives,” said Peri Flanagan, chairperson of the school’s theology department. “Amidst the swirling distractions of social media with its endless pursuit of unhealthy comparison, our young people feel untethered.”

Having a faith gives students something to “tether themselves to that will leave them feeling grounded and more whole,” Flanagan said. “Through faith-centered experiences at JD such as retreats, Mass, icon blessings and more, we remind our students to turn their attention to God.”

The icons chosen for the theology classrooms are of the Archangel Michael, the Archangel Gabriel, St. Clare of Assisi, Matthew the Apostle, St. Catherine of Siena, Saint Augustine of Hippo and St. Teresa of Calcutta. Each was presented by theology teachers who included a reflection of why these saints matter to them, and why the particular saint was fitting as a classroom patron.

Some reflections on the icons follows:

St. Augustine of Hippo

(John O’Neill, theology department head)

St. Augustine was a bishop and Doctor of the Church who lived in the fifth century in northern Africa. He spent much of his youth in worldly pursuits, but after a miraculous conversion he was received into the Church by Saint Ambrose. Perhaps Augustine’s most famous work is his autobiography.

“I first read this book during my junior year of college, when I myself was struggling to take my faith seriously, and I recently re-read it over the past month in reading period,” O’Neill said. “The biggest lesson I learn from St. Augustine is that no matter how far you have strayed, and no matter how much work it will take you, God is always there to welcome you back, to allow you to change your ways, and to ‘go and sin no more.’”

St. Clare of Assisi

(Michelle Moynihan, Theology, Campus Life teacher)

St. Clare, who was born of a noble family in Assisi, Italy in 1194, was moved by the example of St. Francis of Assisi and followed him in giving up her wealth. She started the Poor Clares, a religious order that continues to this day.

Moynihan said she strives to live as did St. Clare, “as a strong woman with deep convictions, in dedication to the poor, and most importantly, as someone who is completely dedicated to Christ.”

St. Catherine of Siena

(Cris Schraegle, theology teacher)

In some of the letters St. Catherine of Siena wrote to friends and clergy, she encouraged them to lead lives of holiness for the sake of Christ. Because of her letters and her book, The Mystical Dialogue, she was named a Doctor of the Roman Catholic Church – one of four women among the 37 saints to be given this honor.

St. Catherine’s words “put an unquenchable fire into the hearts of all those who are privileged to hear them,” Schraegle said. “She was not afraid to speak the truth.”

St. Matthew the Apostle

(Sam McConnell, theology teacher)

The Gospel of Matthew “is an absolute classic, just about the best book ever written,” McConnell said. “Matthew shows us how we can connect our identity with our legacy. Jesus is not just Jesus, he is the story of Israel. Likewise, I am not just me. I am the story of Juan Diego Catholic High School, I am the story of the Church, and I am the story of the Bible. In Christianity, nothing is more real than stories. Narratives are our great truth, and St. Matthew may be our greatest storyteller.”

Sts Michael and Gabriel, the Archangels

(Peri Flanagan, theology department chairperson)

St. Michael, the leader of the celestial ranks and the conqueror of Satan, is the protector of grocers, paratroopers and police. His name means “who is like God.”

Gabriel, the divine herald, announced the birth of John the Baptist to Zacharias and that of Jesus to Mary. He is the protector of postal workers, ambassadors, news vendors and couriers. His name means “force of God.”

These two archangels were chosen by Flanagan and Dave Brunetti, the Campus Life director, “because we both believe that angels are among us,” Flanagan said.