Holy Souls
Dear Mater Dei Community,
Blessings to you this Advent season. As we begin a new liturgical year, we reflect on the end of the world, the final judgment and our own particular judgements. With the sudden death last week of Grace Fitzgerald, sister of Mater Dei junior and dear friend to many, we are forced to contemplate this reality in a most difficult way in our community.
Through the gift of our Catholic faith, we find strength and hope, viewing death not as the end, but the beginning of eternal life with our Lord Jesus Christ. Please keep Grace and the Fitzgerald family in your prayers. We have organized a vigil to ensure continuous prayers day and night throughout the month of December. You may sign up for an hour of prayer HERE.
In this newsletter we will share details from the past month including highlights from the classroom, an important service project, and an event to commemorate Dante. May God bless you.
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Ad Jesum Per Mariam
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
Day-to-day at Mater Dei
Apologetics students have been studying the arguments for the existence of God, demonstrating that faith is not a blind leap, but an act of the intellect and will, aided by God. They have also spent a significant amount of time learning to navigate the Catechism and Sacred Scripture, or their “two lungs” as Mr. Nic Davidson calls them.
Students in our Business Development course have been working on developing their own business ideas. They worked in groups and individually to identify a problem, develop a product or service to solve the problem, define their target audience and then develop a strategy. In true “Shark Tank” style, they recently pitched their ideas to a panel of three local entrepreneurs to get advice and feedback before finishing up the semester.
Service Project
The month of November is dedicated to remembering and praying for the souls in Purgatory. We began our service project with Mass and an opportunity for Confession for the students. We then headed over to Calvary Cemetery to pray for the souls of the deceased. We prayed together as a group as we walked through the cemetery, and then individually over gravestones. Students also cleared gravestones that were overgrown with grass and weeds…some were buried several inches in the ground. It was a privilege to honor these souls, so beloved by the Lord. May Grace Fitzgerald and all the souls of the faithfully departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Dante in Duluth
Mater Dei Apostolate was invited to collaborate with the University of Minnesota Duluth for an event to commemorate the 700th anniversary of Dante, focusing primarily on his epic poem The Divine Comedy. Several Mater Dei juniors sat on a panel with undergraduate UMD students to discuss “How and why we read Dante today”. The panel discussion was moderated by UMD Associate Professor, Dr. Krista Twu, and our very own history instructor, Mr. John Niemann.
After the discussion, all attendees were invited to contribute to a unique piece of collaborative artwork using brush and bleach on canvas, which will be displayed in the UMD library. We were honored to be a part of this event. The students did an impressive job offering their thoughts and reflections on this great work of Western literature, through the lens of our Catholic faith.