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Faith & Service

Faith & Service

Faith & Service

Traditions & Programs

Clubs

Student receiving Ashes on her forehead from a dominican sister during Ash Wednesday Mass.

“Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

St. Cecilia Academy radiates faith. As a Catholic school, we are united around our common faith in the God who created us with infinite dignity and who seeks our friendship. Our mission at St. Cecilia is to help students realize how much Jesus loves them and desires a deep and abiding friendship with them. This relationship is the secret to lasting joy and the steady anchor amid life’s challenges and trials.

In the spirit of St. Thomas Aquinas and our Dominican tradition, religion classes are grounded in Scripture and offer solid doctrinal formation while also encouraging growth in prayer and the life of virtue. Emphasis is given to the harmonious interplay between faith and reason, and teachers encourage students to grapple with life’s essential questions in the pursuit of truth and in making faith one’s own.

You too, dear young people, can be joyful witnesses of His love, courageous witnesses of His Gospel, carrying to this world a ray of His light.

As human beings, we “can only find ourselves through a sincere gift of self,” as St. John Paul II said. Giving of oneself through service is an opportunity to participate in the charity and servant leadership of Christ, and it brings students into an essential encounter with people from all walks of life. This exchange helps them recognize the dignity of all persons and better understand God, themselves, and others. Through outreach to people and communities in Nashville and beyond, students learn personal and civic responsibility and are transformed in ways they do not always expect. The goal at St. Cecilia is that service becomes a way of life, for by it our students become Christ’s hands and feet in the world.

SACRAMENTS

EUCHARIST

  • Weekly Mass for the Junior High

  • Monthly Mass in religion classes for the High School

  • Monthly All School Mass

  • Tuesday and Wednesday Mass offered before school for all

RECONCILIATION

  • Weekly opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the Junior High

  • Monthly First Friday Eucharistic Adoration with the opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation for all

 

CONFIRMATION

  • Students who desire to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation in 8th grade are given instructions as part of their religion class

  • Confirmation Mass is celebrated at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in the spring of the 8th-grade year

 

SPIRITUAL RETREAT PROGRAM

7TH AND 8TH GRADE

JUNIOR HIGH OVERNIGHT RETREAT

The junior high retreat is a special time for students to step away from daily routines and focus on faith, reflection, and community. Students grow closer to God and one another while strengthening the bonds of sisterhood that define the St. Cecilia experience.

8TH GRADE CONFIRMATION RETREAT

As our 8th graders prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation, students are given the opportunity to attend a diocesan retreat held at the Catholic Pastoral Center. SEALED is a one-day event designed to help our 8th grade girls take ownership of their faith while encountering the power of the Holy Spirit.

FRESHMAN 

Freshman Dominican Day Retreat

 

SOPHOMORE 

Sophomore Service Overnight Retreat

JUNIOR

Junior Overnight Retreat

 

SENIOR

Senior Lock-in

 

 

ADDITIONAL SPIRITUAL OPPORTUNITIES

  • All School Retreat
  • Mercy Nights
  • First Saturday Mass at the Motherhouse
  • Chapel Power Hours
  • Sodality
  • Daily Prayer
  • Weekly Rosary
  • Adoration

SERVICE

Faith at St. Cecilia permeates all aspects of life. In fact, many opportunities are offered for our students to integrate faith and life, whether through involvement in Sodality, SCA’s youth group and the school’s oldest club, service work and mission trips, retreat opportunities, or moments of prayer in small groups or in the quiet of the school’s chapel.

The goals of the service program at SCA are two-fold:

  • To develop a love of service so that it becomes a way of life.
  • To encourage respect for the dignity of the human person and cultivate a spirit of gratitude through person-to-person service.

OVERVIEW OF THE SERVICE PROGRAM

7TH GRADE

Understanding the Call to Service

7th grade students may serve their family or community.

FRESHMAN

Service Begins at the Home

Freshmen may serve with or for their family or their teachers and staff at their second home, SCA.

8TH GRADE 

Developing Virtues through Service and Leadership

8th grade students participate in opportunities during allocated service days during school as well as at home.

SOPHOMORE 

Discovering Paths of Service

Sophomores are introduced to the idea of giving back to the Nashville community by serving various underserved and/or underprivileged populations and attending the Sophomore Service Retreat.

JUNIOR

Committing to Service

In religion class, juniors reflect on their experience of service and begin narrowing their focus and commitment to one population or organization.

SENIOR YEAR

Service as a Way of Life

Seniors develop the SHIELD (Serving Humbly In Every Living Deed) project, a reflective project that encapsulates their experience serving at their chosen site(s) that focus on a specific population or organization. Seniors share their reflections with SCA and challenge themselves and others to embrace service as a way of life.

SERVICE REQUIREMENTS

  • Junior High students are introduced to service and the understanding of God’s call to serve others. Service is incorporated into the junior high experience, and opportunities are given during the day as well as after school. Eighth grade students log at least 10 hours of service during school sponsored or outside activities.
  • Freshmen are expected to complete a minimum of 10 hours of "at-home" service per semester. “At-home” service may take three forms: service “for your family”, service “with your family” and service “for your SCA family”.
  • Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors are expected to complete a minimum of 10 hours of service per semester. Required service must be in-person service for underserved and/or underprivileged populations. Those who are underserved/underprivileged include: children who are poor/at risk, the sick/dying, the ignorant (service by tutoring at-risk youth or ministering), refugees, the disabled, elderly, hungry, poor.