SPIRITUAL LIFE

Portsmouth Abbey School is a Catholic Benedictine school and shares in the educational and spiritual mission of the Church. Though it can never take the place of parents, who are always the primary educators of their children, even in spiritual matters, the School participates in that mission by creating an atmosphere and opportunity in which its students can grow in the knowledge and love of God.

Our Spiritual Life programs are a central element of student life at the school. Beyond the obligation to go to Sunday Mass, there is also a weekly night Mass in all the Houses for the boarding students, and a penance service once a term. Among the voluntary opportunities, we also have confessions in the Church on Friday mornings, the Rosary in the Church on Thursday nights after Sit Down Dinners, and Compline recited twice a week in one of the Houses. Compline is a very beautiful, and brief, prayer office recited at night, the last formal prayer time in the monastic day. It consists of a few psalms, prayers, and hymns, and is a good way to end the day. We also have a very active program in Christian Community Service that includes opportunities both in and out of term. This year we will again hold an all-school Good Friday Day of Recollection. We will have a Day of Recollection for Form III and a Day of Service for Form IV this fall.

The Sacrament of Confirmation will be conferred in May of 2012. Information regarding Confirmation, which is available to all eligible Catholic students, will be sent out soon. Students wishing to be confirmed must complete a permission form and provide a baptismal certificate. Confirmation classes will begin near the end of the fall term, the week after Parent's Weekend.

There will also be new opportunities in prayer and service, and pro-life initiatives such as the March for Life, which will be available for students to join in September or later in the year. We are excited about these initiatives and hope you share our enthusiasm. Please contact me or Ms. Therese Thomas, our Director of Christian Community Service, with any questions of suggestions for our Spiritual Life at the school.

Thank you for your prayers and your continued care for and help with our school community.

Blake Billings ' 77, Ph.D.
Director of Spiritual Life