PRAYER
St. Gregory The Great School places emphasis on providing a religious education for all students. We ask God to bless our work. We recognize the importance of both formal and informal prayer. All students are expected to know at least the formal prayers contained in their religious books and to participate in the offering of all prayers during each school day.
MASS
Religious worship is an integral part of a child’s growth and central to the Catholic identity of the school. Children in grades TK – 8 begin each Friday with participation at the 8:30 a.m. Mass. We rely on parents to underscore the importance of the Mass by helping their children to make a special effort to arrive at school on time. Students are required to wear the proper Mass uniform.
SUNDAY MASS
As a Catholic school, we recognize that a prime opportunity for parent-directed religious education is participation at Saturday evening/Sunday Mass. As a Parish School, it is understood that weekly Mass participation provides a tremendous opportunity for community-building in a Christ-centered environment. It is therefore essential to our mission as Catholic educators, in partnership with parents for the Catholic education of their children, that families attend Mass on a weekly basis and that parents attentively provide example/assistance to their children in developing habits of active participation during Mass. As the primary religious educators of their children, parents are expected to follow through on this most serious obligation.
SACRAMENTAL PREPARATION
Parents of Catholic students in Grade Two must participate in the Sacramental Preparation Program offered by the Parish School Second Grade Teacher as a condition to their child’s receiving First Penance and First Communion. Any student not in Grade Two who desires to receive First Penance and/or First Communion must participate in the Parish Religious Education Program as no specific catechetical instruction for sacramental preparation is included in any school religion curriculum other than that of Grade Two.
