On the feast of St. Faustina, shortly after the viability of the Academy was questioned, and without warning, events occurred that were of such magnitude that it appeared to some our Academy’s demise was imminent!

 I can’t go into details, but although at the time we were shocked, puzzled and confused, on the very day dedicated to the Apostle of the Divine Mercy, the path the Academy should take was made clear to us.

On that very day, I had a meeting scheduled with the priest about whom I wrote to you a few months ago, the one who said he wasn’t sure OLSHA was necessary, but who gave us a donation anyway. I canceled that meeting in order to handle a pressing concern at the Academy, (I didn’t know it at the time, but another pivotal event was occurring that very day), and rescheduled it a few days later.

A good general leads with a declaration of purpose, and with focus. Going into that meeting, although I was uncertain of the answers to our immediate problems, I never doubted our future.

So I got into my car, and called another Board member, and told him I was going to meet Father X., and that I was going to ask him to build our school building. He said, "You have a knack for bad timing."

"There’s no bad time like the present," I said, and went on to the meeting. (Bravado worked at Thermopylae, and in the Reconquista.)

I asked Father whether he was going to build our school, or commit to weekly doughnuts with me for the rest of his life.

He said, "You know, every time I see you, I see dollar signs; but do you have a set of plans?"

"No," I replied, "but I know where to get them."

"Do so," he said.

I was in such shock that I was silent for a few moments (not an everyday occurrence).

"Does this mean I can build a school?"

"Yes."

At last, I connected this conversation with the trial of the past week and told Father that this moment was an answer to our prayers. Of course I thanked him. The vision of the Mary Catherine Building Fund may soon be accomplished! Two other events are linked to this story. First, two of our biggest benefactors were in St. Peter’s Basilica specifically praying for the Academy at that very time. Second, a few weeks ago, a group of parents, students and friends installed on the Academy land fourteen twelve-foot crosses, to enable the public to pray the Stations of the Cross. It was rainy and bitterly cold all day, and it was inspiring to see the parents and children giving up a weekend day for this effort. "Putting up the Stations," someone said, "is going to get the school built!"

I know some would say these events are mere coincidence, but I believe Father’s commitment is an answer to the commitment and prayers of those parents and students, and a loud and clear assertion of the value of the Academy. I must thank Our Lady, St. Faustina, St. Mary Catherine, St. Keely and all who have struggled and prayed so that the Academy will triumph in a world so filled with evil.

 Louis Bageanis

PRESS RELEASE:

OUR LADY OF THE SACRED HEART ACADEMY NAMED IN TOP FIFTY CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOLS IN NATION

ROCKFORD, SEPTEMBER 29–Rockford’s Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Academy has been included in the national Catholic High School Honor Roll, a list of fifty schools selected annually for academic excellence, Catholic identity and civic education.

According to Anthony Pienta, executive director of the Honor Roll project, the Honor Roll encourages constructive competition among secondary schools that “face the challenges of Catholic secondary education with excellence and integrity.” The Honor Roll’s Advisory Board includes Gerard Bradley, professor of law at the University of Notre Dame Law School, Dr. Timothy O’Donnell, president of Christendom College, Reverend Terence Henry, TOR, president of the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Msgr. Paul Langsfeld, rector of the Pontifical College Josephenum and Very Reverend David M. O’Connell, president of the Catholic University of America.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Academy is only nine years old, and is about to graduate its first senior class. It inhabits the top floor of the Ken-Rock Community Center on Eleventh Street, but has purchased sixteen acres at the corner of Meridian Road and Porter Road in the hope of erecting a building of its own.

“Of course we are very glad to be included in the Honor Roll,” says Lou Bageanis, president of the Academy’s board. “Who would have said, nine years ago, that a group of concerned parents could start a school and make it fly, and that it would be cited for excellence so soon.”

The Academy is a private school, not affiliated with the Diocese of Rockford; out of respect for Church law, therefore, it does not call itself a Catholic school. However, many priests of the Rockford Diocese visit the Academy and give talks for the students and hear their confessions, and Rev. Brian Geary, pastor of St. Patrick Church, teaches theology to the upperclassmen.

Headmaster Marc Devoid, who teaches freshman theology, Latin and literature in addition to his administrative duties, is also elated by the Academy’s inclusion in the Honor Roll. “It’s a tribute to the hard work of the students and faculty,” he says, “and the support of the parents. From the smallest Kindergartner sweating over phonics to the seniors puzzling out Augustine, Aquinas, calculus and college applications, everyone here works very hard and prays very hard. Our students and faculty are remarkably idealistic, and the work ethic is very good. Recognition on the Honor Roll is a vindication of our belief that if we set high standards of academics and personal excellence, the students will rise to the challenge.”

The Academy’s devotion to the traditional Latin Mass, as permitted by Rockford’s Bishop Thomas Doran, and its fostering of traditional Catholic culture and customs, have prompted some to refer to it as “that medieval school,” but Devoid doesn’t mind. “The thirteenth century was a time of idealism and commitment,” he says, “a time when men dedicated themselves to excellence in mind and spirit in service to Christ and his Church. The epithet is an honor.”

Devoid says the land on Meridian Road is an ideal location for the school. “It looks rural and peaceful; it’s about half cropland and half woodland; but it’s only a couple of minutes from the bypass exit.” Students and parents recently erected Stations of the Cross around the perimeter of the field fronting on the main road—a series of tall wooden crosses carrying images of the last hours of Christ, from his condemnation by Pilate to the moment when He was taken down from the Cross.

“The Stations,” says Bageanis, “are our staking of our ground, an expression of our determination to build, to excel and above all to raise up effective soldiers for the Church and the nation.”

"I knew we were good, but I didn’t know we were that good."

That was the reaction of a high-school student who watched me nail a press release to my classroom wall, a press release announcing that the Academy had been named to the Acton Institute’s 2006 Honor Roll of Catholic High Schools.

The Honor Roll recognizes the top 50 schools "that embrace a vibrant Catholic identity and face

the challenges of Catholic secondary education  with excellence and integrity," the press release said. "I guess that’s us," said another student, wryly, as became one who had stayed up late to finish the reading for his literature and theology classes.

"Oh, that’s why we work so hard," said a third.

I suppose it is us; I’ve always believed it, but it’s wonderful to have the recognition, just as we’re preparing to graduate our first seniors. We were measured against schools that have been around a lot longer, and that have far more financial luxury than we have. Do look at the honor roll website: those are glamorous institutions. All we have is dedication to academic excellence in service to the Lord. We don’t have hot water in the bathrooms, or a science lab, or a gym of our own, but we cobble together enough labs to give the students a good understanding of laboratory procedure; and we offer daily prayers and frequent Masses for the hope that soon we’ll have a well equipped school. Meanwhile, when it comes to theology, history, mathematics, book-science, languages and literature, we rejoice in the conviction that our students are doing a first-rate job. The Acton Institute’s Honor Roll weighted academics, Catholic identity and civics education equally. Not to put too fine a point upon it, we didn’t just squeak in because of the daily Rosary! We earned our way into the top fifty in all three areas, and we placed in the top twenty-five on Catholic identity, a criterion judged on "Catholic faith integrated into culture and curriculum."

The Acton Institute is a conservative think tank founded in 1990 to promote laissez-faire economics and public policy within a Christian framework. Its Institute for the Study of Religion and Law seeks to articulate a vision of a society that is both free and virtuous. I believe Acton’s motto suits our Academy down to the ground: "Together, empowered by faith in God and belief in human freedom, we truly can make a difference."

Dear benefactors, our young people are going to go out into the world of college, and soon into the world at large, prepared to do battle for Christ and his Church. You should be very proud of them, for you have helped them become not just soldiers for the Lord, but officers.

Thank Heaven, they have a sense of humor, a sign of a good liberal-arts education and an essential weapon in this sorry world. I confronted one of our seniors last week, apparently doing nothing in the hall.

"I am preparing for my class in metaphysics," he said. "I am Having Being. Oh, don’t worry. I’ll go and be good."

Observing the strong young people they’re becoming, I’m reminded of Rhett Butler’s line: "Heaven help any Yankees who run into you." Heaven help any liberals who run into our upperclassmen.

You may like to know that we have nearly finished learning the Kyrie of Casali’s Missa in G, a real polyphonic Mass. We began work on it last year; I think we have a realistic hope of being able to offer the Kyrie, Sanctus and Agnus Dei within a month or two. The students have developed a good appreciation of of polyphony; one sophomore demanded last week, "How do you write this? How do you make all the voices work? Yes, I see that it all works, but what kind of mind can make this out of nothing?" The voices float and weave in and out so beautifully!

The students know their music catechism well: the purposes of sacred music are to glorify God, and to edify and sanctify the faithful. They also have a healthy, varsity attitude about the difficult parts: "Way to go, sopranos! Let’s go, basses!"

This work ethic, this mutual encouragement, carries over from music into academics. Singing together creates a wonderful esprit de corps. I often hear the students checking each other on assignments, and they often study together for tests. (I’m in awe at the parents who host and feed these teenagers.)

I also catch the students singing "Pange, Lingua" in the hallway. It echoes very well. John Balderston, our wonderful new highschool math and science teacher, heard them singing and said he was recapturing his youth in an English Catholic school and choir. Mr. Balderston later served in the Royal Navy, and then worked as a naval engineer; he was the man who saw to it that the U.S. Navy had everything it needed, on time, to launch its fleet for Operation Desert Shield. Perhaps because of his experience as an officer, he is very good at sizing up the strengths of each student, and tailoring the work to fill in what they need. The students love his sea stories (as do I), and respect his expertise, and want to do well for him. I have seen him praying before the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in his classroom, early in the morning. He has laid before her his cap with oak leaves from the commissioning of the ship Guadalupe. We earned the Honor Roll by being serious about Catholic spirituality and academics. The credit goes to the parents, who teach their children to work hard and to pray hard, to my fellow teachers, who keep up a high standard of spirituality and academics, and to the students, who choose every day to ignore the garbage in the popular culture, and to erect a Catholic subculture. Please pray with them that that subculture will soon take over the world, and Christ will be King.

In Jesu Christo Dmno Nostro,

Our Stations

Our friends, Norm Vonesh and Dick Bugler, long-time supporters of the Academy, lovingly constructed these stations. Each station is specially treated to withstand the harsh Midwest elements. The crosses erected on the property will be fitting "homes" for these beautiful depictions of Our Lord’s last hours.

For a one-time donation of $5,000, you can remember a loved one or dedicate a station to a friend or family member. A plaque will be placed at the foot of the cross with your family name and dedication engraved upon it. A garden will encircle each station and will be tended to with the greatest of care. Two stations have already been "adopted"; the first was a gift to Andrew and Margaret Ericksen, in loving memory of their son, Christopher, and the second by the Veitch family.

Should you wish to take advantage of this unique opportunity, please fill out the form below and send to OLSHA. We will send a letter of confirmation as well as an invoice in the amount of $5,000, with a place to indicate your intentions for your particular station.

The First Construction Project on OLSHA's New Home

Yes!  I would like to "adopt" a station on the future site of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Academy.

Please send an invoice to me in the amount of $5,000

Name_________________________________________________

Address_______________________________________________

 Phone____________________________

Email address____________________________

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Academy is a 501(c) 3 Corporation. All donations are tax-deductible.