Junior Retreat

Today we concluded our retreat "season" with the junior class retreat.  We hold all of the class retreats (with the exception of the senior one) and the faculty/staff retreat in August and September as a way to set the tone for the school-year.

The junior retreat began in our gym with about an hour of activities, ice breakers, talks, and composing prayers with Ms. Zolkos P'15, '19 of our theology department.  At 9:30am, we hoped on buses and went over to Mt. Uncanoonuc in Goffstown.  Our chaplain, Fr. Richard Dion, celebrated Mass for us at Uncanoonuc Lake using a canoe as an altar.  We got this idea from St. John Paul II who used to take students on hikes and canoeing and afterwards, he would turn the canoe over to celebrate Mass for them.  In his homily, Fr. Richard spoke of Pope Francis' visit to the United States and his simple message to "Do good."

Following Mass, we had lunch there at the lake and then hiked up the mountain.  It's a moderate hike but there are some pretty steep points.  I kept on telling the kids in the weeks leading up to the retreat that the hike is easy and they had some different opinions as we were hiking!  One boy had a boot on as he sprained his ankle but kept insisting he wanted to do the hike.  We stopped at two outlooks, one looking to the west and another towards Manchester and beyond.  We don't actually go to the summit as all that's up there is cell phone towers and radio towers.

We hike a mountain as it is analogous to lives of faith.  There are times when living a faithful life is hard, exhausting, you want to quit, etc. But, for those who persevere and make it to the summit, there are great rewards.

It was literally a picture perfect day for a hike, absolutely glorious!  We were done by 1pm so the juniors got to go home a little early too, a nice extra reward for their efforts.

The Class of 2017 with Fr. Richard after Mass

Lunchtime

Fr. Richard preaching

Looking towards Manchester

Another view of Manchester

Prayer of the day

Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Wenceslaus of Christmas carol fame!  Wenceslaus was from Bohemia in the modern day Czech Republic and was killed in 935 by his brother Boleslav the Cruel (what a perfect name).  For our prayer today, we used the final (and my favorite) verse of "Good King Wenceslaus"

In his master's steps he trod, where the snow lay dinted;

Heat was in the very sod which the saint had printed.

Therefore, Christian men, be sure, wealth or rank possessing,

Ye who now will bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing.

Pope of the Day III

We wrapped up our honorary pope of the day this past Friday.  The real pope, Pope Francis, was incredibly inspiring to me (and so many others of course) during the course of his visit and there is so much we can take away from his visit.  Do stay tuned!

Pope of the Day II

Today we continued honoring Pope Francis' visit to the United States with our honorary pope of the day during homeroom!

Pope of the day

When Pope Benedict XVI visited the United States in 2008, our former campus minister picked a student each day to be the honorary Pope of the Day.  That student would be driven around the school during homeroom on a golf cart while greeting the students hanging out the windows!  We decided to bring back that idea for Pope Francis' visit as a fun way to promote his visit to the United States.  Today, tomorrow, and Friday, a different student will be driven around the back of the school to the front in a Jeep (white no less!) with a Vatican flag and "Secret Service" protection.  

Enjoy some photos from today's papal visit:

Sophomore Retreat

The Class of 2018

Yesterday our sophomore class gathered at Ste. Marie Parish on the Westside of Manchester for their class retreat.  Ms. Zolkos P'15, '19 of our theology department did a magnificent job preparing for and carrying out the day's activities.  The theme of the retreat was prayer and the students took part in a variety of talks, games, and movie clips to help flesh out the topic of prayer.  After lunch I showed the student the "virtual town hall" that Pope Francis conducted earlier this month with people in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Texas.  We then moved to the upper Church so the students could get a look at how beautiful it is.  I told them that we could not be at Ste. Marie's and not look around, the Church is a complete work of art.

We concluded our day with a brief prayer service in the chapel where we heard the gospel reading of the day (the call of St. Matthew) followed by a few words by me on how Jesus calls and uses the unexpected to do His work here on Earth.

This Monday is our annual junior retreat and the final one until the senior day of reflection in May.

Welcoming the pope

Yesterday afternoon, Pope Francis arrived in the United States for a 6-day visit to Washington, DC, New York City, and Philadelphia.  To mark the occasion, our school community gathered outside before the start of the school day to raise the flags of the United States and Vatican City.  Members of our school choir also sang the American national anthem and we played the Vatican national anthem. Given the pope's devotion to the Blessed Mother, Mr. Mailloux '72 then led us in praying the Hail Mary.

The Vatican flag will hang outside on our flagpole for the duration of the pope's visit.  We are also doing a lot in our theology classes to teach our students about Pope Francis and his papacy.  Over the past few weeks, all of our students watched the 20/20 virtual town audience the pope had with people in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Texas and many others watched this past Sunday's piece on "60 Minutes."

Stay tuned...

Come Holy Spirit...

This past Wednesday we formally inaugurated the 2015-2016 academic year with a Mass of the Holy Spirit.  We also used this as an opportunity to welcome the Class of 2019 to our community.  Our celebrant was our chaplain Fr. Richard Dion.

The Class of 2019 lined up outside and processed into the gym behind the altar servers.  The only other time they will do this will be in May of 2019 when we gather for their senior farewell Mass.  The freshmen sat in chairs on the gym floor while the other classes sat in their sections in the gym (more on that later).  Fr. Richard ate his Wheaties that morning as he was on fire during his homily.  I took lots of notes as he spoke but of course I cannot find them!  He spoke of the need fort the students to be witnesses in this world, to show the world that they are believers in a time when many are not.  He spoke of how refreshing it is to come to Trinity and to encounter students who are so active in their faith.  He spoke of Pierce Gilman '15 who came to him last year and asked to make his first communion and to be confirmed.  He also spoke of David Gagnon '11, the former captain of Trinity's hockey team, who came to him and said he wanted to be a priest.  "The hockey captain wanted to be a priest!" he said.  "That doesn't happen!"

Following the final prayer, we made a presentation to the Class of 2019.  Each year we present the classes with various symbols of our Catholic faith.  The seniors receive a candle at the senior farewell Mass, the juniors receive a Tau cross at the Junior Leadership Ceremony, the sophomores receive rosary beads on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, and our freshmen receive a San Damiano Wall Cross at the Mass of the Holy Spirit.  I told them the story of the cross and how St. Francis of Assisi was praying before the cross and heard Jesus asking him to rebuild His Church.  I told the students that these crosses, I hope, are reminders to them that they are called to build up the Church as well.

Fr. Richard blessed the crosses and as I called each freshman up, Mr. Mailloux '72 and Fr. Richard presented them with the crosses.  I then explained to the freshmen that each class has their own section in the gym and their section has been empty but now...it's all theirs, they are now one of us.  They all moved to the freshmen section to raucous applause from the other students.

May God the Holy Spirit continue to bless Trinity High School in this our 46th academic year!

Lasallian visit

Last Monday and Tuesday, we were visited by three people from the Lasallian Christian Brothers District of Eastern North America:

The visiting team with Mr. Mailloux '72

• Mrs. Maryann Donohue-Lynch, associate executive director of Mission and Ministry
• Bro. Robert Hazard, FSC, Lasallian Christian Brother from Providence, RI
• Mr. Ben Ventresca, former board chair at LaSalle College High School 

The three were visiting Trinity High School as part of our application to re-associate with the Christian Brothers.  As you may recall, we applied for association in June after many years of discussions with the brothers and their leadership.  This is a very exciting moment for me personally as I am confident it will invigorate our already dynamic Catholic identity.  It will also give our teachers and students a charism, that is, a spirituality, that is solely focused on Catholic education and human formation.  It is also a return to our roots as Trinity and two of our predecessor schools were founded and operated by the Christian Brothers.  It is important to note that we will remain a diocesan school and Bishop Libasci and our superintendent, Fr. John Fortin, OSB, are enthusiastically supportive of our application.

The group arrived in Manchester on Sunday afternoon (although Ben experienced flight delays and didn't get into Manchester until close to midnight).  They arrived at Trinity around 7:45am on Monday and began an intense two days of meetings with students, faculty, and parents.  They began their day by meeting with me and our principal Mr. Mailloux '72 and were then given a student-led tour of the school.  The three then broke up and met with various constituencies in the school.  They met with students involved in Campus Ministry and our mission trips, all department chairs, all of the various directors and administrators, the theology department, our advisory board, and a group of parents.  They also sat in on some classes and watched our choir practice for our Mass that was being held later that week.

The group wrapped up their time with us on Tuesday afternoon with a nice discussion with the administration and me about their observations and initial thoughts.  They gave some wonderful feedback on the community the school has, the strong Catholic mission and academic program, and our amazing students.  It was very affirming.

The next step is Mrs. Donohue-Lynch will compose a report and present it to the district's Mission Executive Council which meets this week.  If they agree to move forward, we will then begin a 3-year discernment process by which we both will decide if association is indeed a good fit for both sides.  We will take part in their formation programs, we will have formation for our faculty and staff, we will begin introducing Lasallian history, spirituality, and pedagogy into our school, etc.  She said that we are the first school to apply for re-association, that is, a former Christian Brothers school looking to come back to the fold!

It is quite an exciting moment for our school and we pray for the intercession of St. John Baptist de la Salle that God's will be done!

Alive and very well...

Sorry for the radio silence last week.  There was a ton going on but I am just now getting around to posting about it.  As I mentioned previously, I am teaching full-time for now in addition to Campus Ministry so the days are much busier than usual!  But stay tuned for some news...

The Cross...our only hope

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.  In honor of today's feast, our prayer this morning was the Prayer of St. Francis Before the Crucifix:

Most High
glorious God,
enlighten the darkness
of my heart.
Give me
right faith, 
sure hope
and perfect charity.
Fill me with understanding
and knowledge
that I may fulfill
your command.

#neverforget

This past Friday, of course, was the 14th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Our prayer that morning came from an excerpt from a prayer Pope Benedict XVI recited when he visited Ground Zero in 2008:

God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world:
peace in the hearts of all men and women
and peace among the nations of the earth.
Turn to your way of love
those whose hearts and minds
are consumed with hatred.
God of understanding,
overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy,
we seek your light and guidance
as we confront such terrible events.
Grant that those whose lives were spared
may live so that the lives lost here
may not have been lost in vain.
Comfort and console us,
strengthen us in hope,
and give us the wisdom and courage
to work tirelessly for a world
where true peace and love reign
among nations and in the hearts of all.

Mop-up duty

Each year on the Thursday after Labor Day, Bishop Libasci hosts a fundraiser at his home to benefit the Bishop's Charitable Assistance Fund.  We are always asked to help with the clean-up from 9pm-11pm and are happy to help.  The fundraiser was held this past Thursday and I am so grateful to all of the seniors who helped as well as Mr. Sheehan '79 of our math department.  We actually finished in record time this year, clocking out at 10:30pm, enough for folks to get home and catch the end of the Patriots' game!

Back to our roots

Today, on the anniversary of Trinity High School's founding, our principal Mr. Mailloux '72 made this announcement to the school community:

Dear Trinity High School community,

On this very day in 1970, Mr. Maurier and I began our junior years of high school at the brand new Trinity High School.  Earlier that spring, it was announced that three Manchester Catholic high schools - Bishop Bradley, Immaculata, and St. Anthony’s - would merge to form a new school called Trinity High School.  I was a student at Bishop Bradley and Mr. Maurier came from St. Anthony’s.  We came together with over 1,200 other students, teachers, and religious from those schools to be the Pioneers (literally and figuratively) of the new Trinity High School.  

One of the great traditions of Catholic education in Manchester has been the Lasallian Christian Brothers, a religious order founded in France 1680 by St. John Baptist de la Salle.  The Christian Brothers, who have always exclusively focused on teaching, especially the poor, quickly expanded around the world, coming to the United States in 1845 and Manchester in 1886.  The Christian Brothers taught at St. Joseph’s High School for Boys until the high school moved in 1951 to the brand new Bishop Bradley High School.  The brothers helped found Trinity High School in 1970 but due to declining vocations, left Trinity and Manchester in 1978.

On the occasion of Trinity High School’s 40th anniversary in 2010, we honored the Christian Brothers at a special assembly.  Three brothers who taught at Bishop Bradley and Trinity joined us that day - Bros. Jerome Cox, Brendan Gerrity, and John McMahon, F.S.C.  It was Bro. John who brought up an idea about Trinity and the Christian Brothers reconnecting in some way.  From there, conversations ensued about Trinity High School formally re-associating with the Christian Brothers, becoming a part of their worldwide network of schools, and adopting their mission and spirituality of education.  

With the enthusiastic support of Bishop Peter Libasci and of our Superintendent of Schools, Fr. John Fortin, O.S.B., we formally applied for association with the Christian Brothers this past June.  Next week a group will visit Trinity High School to see if we should proceed.  If they agree, together we will spend  the next three years discerning if association is indeed a good fit for both Trinity High School and the Christian Brothers.  Trinity, will of course, remain a diocesan school but the school’s Catholic identity and dedication to serving our students will be enhanced with the mission and charism of the Christian Brothers.       

Thus, this is just the beginning of a long but exciting process for Trinity High School.  It is, in a sense, a return to our roots, providing our school with a dynamic spirituality of teaching and learning, that provides a human and Catholic education to young people.  It is quite fitting that all this comes during the Church’s Year of Consecrated Life, a year dedicated to celebrating the self-less contributions of women and men religious to our Church, especially the Lasallian Christian Brothers.        

This is indeed an exciting moment in the history of Trinity High School and for me personally.  Trinity High School has been my life’s work and I have now been affiliated with the school since I was 14 years old, as a student, student-teacher, teacher, and since 1996, its principal.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  

Sincerely,

Denis Mailloux ’72

Principal

45 years young

It was 45 years ago today that Trinity High School opened its doors for the first time.  Earlier that year, it was announced that three Catholic high schools in Manchester - Bishop Bradley, Immaculata, and St. Anthony's - would merge to form Trinity High School.  Over 1,200 students, religious, and lay staff made up the Pioneer community on that day.

Today is also the feast of the Nativity (birth) of the Blessed Virgin Mary so in her honor our prayer this morning was the Hail Mary.

Happy Birthday Trinity!

Happy name day

Today the Church celebrates the feast of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta.  It is also the name day of our former theology teacher Ms. Girard, now Sr. Agnes Clare Girard, O.P. (Agnes was Mother Teresa's baptismal name and Sr. Agnes Clare had a great devotion to Mother Teresa, she was even held by her as a baby!).  Sr. Agnes Clare joined the Dominican Sisters of Nashville, TN three years ago and this summer she took her first vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville.  I was not able to attend the Mass but many Trinity High School alumni did as did many priests of the Diocese of Manchester, including Bishop Libasci.

This year's senior class is the last class that knew Sr. Agnes Clare so in honor of her name day and her first profession, the seniors all wrote notes to her in theology class yesterday. I will mail them down to her next week.  We did this for her last year as well and I know how much it meant to her.  When I was in the seminary, it meant the world to hear back from home.

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us.

Sr. Agnes Clare with her parents and priests from the diocese

Sr. Agnes Clare with Trinity students past and present

Freshman Class retreat

This past Monday, our entire freshman class went off site to St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in Bedford for their class retreat.  Our freshman theology teacher Ms. Zolkos P'15, '19, as always, did an amazing job planning and carrying out the retreat.  This was the first freshman retreat that I have missed in my entire Trinity High School career.  We had an unexpected resignation in our theology department before the school-year began so I have been teaching three theology classes on top of my two social studies classes (and working in campus ministry!).  So I elected to stay back this year so I wouldn't miss too many classes just as we starting the year.  But I wasn't concerned as Ms. Zolkos has a real gift for retreats and a stellar group of juniors and seniors helping.

Fr. Mike Zgonc, the parochial vicar at St. Elizabeth Seton, graciously, said Mass for the freshman at the end of the day and spent time teaching about the Mass before beginning the celebration.

Up next is our sophomore retreat on Sept. 21 followed by the junior retreat on Sept. 28.  Our seniors typically gather in May.

Fall sports season

Last year we began a new tradition of launching each sports season with a Mass for our athletes and coaches.  Our Mass for the Fall season was scheduled for this past Monday but our chaplain Fr. Richard Dion had a scheduling conflict at the last minute so we decided to have a prayer service instead.  

The athletes and coaches gathered in our gym after school on Monday and we began with a Liturgy of the Word.  Molly Hayden '16 proclaimed a reading and the Psalm and I read a gospel passage and  offered a reflection (see below).  Our athletic director, Mr. Polak, then called up all the coaches and I presented them with a prayer book for sports from the University of Notre Dame and a holy medal of St. Sebastian, the patron saint of athletes.  Mr. Polak then offered a few words on sportsmanship and Jason Dufour '16 led us in some final intentions and the Lord's Prayer.

Here's to a great season!  My reflection is below:

The last time I really played organized sports was in junior high school.  The final year of my baseball career, my batting average was .000.  My final glory was scoring 4 points in a season for my 8th grade basketball team - one jump shot and two free throws!  But recently I heard about Irish sports called Gaelic football and hurling.  If you have never watched Gaelic football or hurling, watch some You Tube videos when you get home tonight and you will be hooked.  I was so hooked on hurling that I decided to join a hurling team in Worcester last summer.  I am not bragging but once I joined the team, we not only won the Northeast Championship but also the North American Championship.  Truth be told, I could hardly walk after playing in my first game and after that I only saw one half of play.  

Hurling is known as the fastest game on grass and is 70 minutes of running on a field bigger than a football field trying to get a ball over goal posts for 1 point or in a net for 3 points.  You use a flat stick called a hurley to pass or carry the ball and you can only hold it for three steps before having to pass it.  It is a pretty rough sport and someone called it a cross between lacrosse and manslaughter!  

Hurling’s origins go back to ancient days but it was organized in its current form around the 1880’s.  During that time, Ireland was still under the control of Great Britain and many Irish wanted a sport that was uniquely theirs as they not want have to play British sports like cricket or soccer.  Not only that, not a single player is paid to play hurling and Gaelic football, they do it for the pride of their local team or their county.  The ultimate goal is to win the All-Ireland Final in hurling and/or Gaelic football, not because of the money or the fame but because of the pride for the player’s fellow countrymen and women.  So hurling and Gaelic football are not only amazing sports to watch and play but they have great appeal to Irish nationalism, identity, and culture.  

I think we can say the same thing about sports here at Trinity High School.  You play cross country, football, soccer, golf, cheer, and volleyball not because you are going to play for a Division 1 school or professional (although we have some hope for some of you!).  You play sports here for the love of the game, the love of your teammates, and and for the love of Trinity High School.  When you step onto the field, the court, or the course this fall, you are representing yourself, your team, and Trinity High School and you’re doing so out of pure passion.  Sports is something “extra” here at Trinity but it is certainly part of our goal to develop you as people of faith, scholarship, and character.  I urge you to thank God each time you have the opportunity to play sports here and remember some of these quotes from scripture:

An athlete cannot receive the winner’s crown except by competing according to the rules

Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others, knowing that you will receive from the Lord the due payment of the inheritance

Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but [also] everyone for those of others.

And finally, and ultimately, for sports and for our lives of faith, when all is said and done, remember:

I have competed well; I have finished the race;I have kept the faith.From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.

Amen.

A little help from our friends

As part of their orientation, the entire freshman class at Saint Anselm College spent a few hours last Friday performing service throughout the Manchester area.  We were lucky to have 17 freshmen and 2 student leaders come to Trinity High School and help us with some work.  Most of them did some yard work for us, two girls helped Ms. Zolkos with our freshman retreat preparation, and two boys helped move some heavy items.  As a 1998 graduate of Saint Anselm College, I was more than happy to have the students join us.  I enjoyed getting to know them and to talk about my experience at St. A's.

After their work, they gathered in our Campus Ministry office to reflect on their experience and I was invited to join them.  I urged them to make the most of their four years as it will absolutely fly by.  I also encouraged them to be a part of the Greater Manchester community and to get to know the people and place they will call home for the next four years.

May her soul...

You may have heard of the woman, Denise Robert, who was murdered while out for a walk on Sunday night.  Ms. Robert was a 1971 graduate of Trinity High School and sadly the second Trinity alumnae to be murdered in the past year (Taylor Lessard '06 was murdered last October in Lincoln).  Our prayers are with the Robert family and all her friends during this terrible time.

May her soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.