Southern Nebraska Register
Six students from St. Cecilia Middle and High School (STC) in Hastings received sacraments of initiation during the Easter Vigil April 4, and two more during a school Mass April 10.
The students took instruction with Sr. Mary Emmanuel and Sr. M. Xavier, who also accompanied the students through the period of mystagogy, when new Catholics deepen their understanding of the faith and transitioning from receiving the sacraments to living them in daily life.
The school began the OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation for Adults) this school year, helping students in middle school and high school who were preparing to receive various sacraments.
Father Cyrus Rowan, chief administrative officer, said by providing the opportunity to attend OCIA at St. Cecilia, the school gave interested students the ability to learn more about the Catholic Church.
“This initiative provides support for interested students who may have transferred to STC without a prior Catholic faith background, allowing them to supplement the knowledge gained in their standard theology courses,” he explained.
“Furthermore, the program offers a structured pathway for any student seeking to receive the sacraments of initiation—specifically baptism, confirmation, and/or first communion—who has not yet done so.”
He stressed: “All of this is, of course, through parent permission and approval. This isn’t something required for students, but it serves another opportunity that fits into teaching the message of Jesus Christ.”
Among the individuals were students who were baptized and confirmed and received Communion; others were confirmed and received Communion. Three were baptized Catholics who needed to be confirmed or receive their first Communion.
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Courtesy photos
The class was a mixed group of students with a wide variety of faith experiences and knowledge. Once a week, over the course of the school year, they met as a group and discussed the basics of Catholicism. They were taught by Sister Mary Emmanuel of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George, who came to Hastings Catholic Schools in August. In February, she moved back to Alton, Ill. to begin preparation for her first vows, which will be Aug. 1.
She said the group’s dynamic was her favorite part of teaching OCIA.
“It reminds me of Jesus calling the Apostles, all from totally different backgrounds, ages, families, friend groups, but called together to follow Him and responding to that call,” she said. “It is so beautiful to witness this work of the Holy Spirit in these students! It’s like a microcosm of the whole Church, which is so diverse. I see before my eyes how the richness of the Church’s diversity is not opposed to her real unity. The bonds of communion that unite us in the Church through the profession of faith and the sacramental life are real and effective.”
She also spoke of the students’ commitment.
“We meet for OCIA after a full day of school, and they have homework and lots of other things on their minds, but for the most part, they still come. It has inspired me to see them encourage one another to realize the importance of what they are seeking here, and how it compares to the other things they have going on.”
Sister M. Xavier completed the OCIA course with the students, and felt blessed to do so.
“The joy and the wonder of the students as they have journeyed towards Easter has been a blessing to see and it has renewed me in my own faith as well,” said Sister M. Xavier.
She said the students “have not just been a blessing to those of us who are preparing them, but for the whole school as well.”
The school held various liturgies like the Rite of Welcoming during school Masses.
“The OCIA students are living testimonies to their classmates and to all of us at STC that our faith is something precious,” she said. “They are also a beautiful reminder of why we have Catholic schools, to bring people into communion with Christ and His Church.”
