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Manuals
Conduct of Christian Schools:
FIRST PART - Chapter 7
SCHOOL PRACTICES AND THE MANNER IN WHICH THEY ARE TO BE CARRIED OUT
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CHAPTER 7
Prayers
ARTICLE I
Daily Prayers that are Said in School
At the opening of school at eight in the morning and as soon as the bell has ceased ringing, all will make the sign of the cross and then say Veni Sancte Spiritus and what follows. In the afternoon, the Venez Saint Esprit will be said 9. This is as indicated in the Le Livre des Exercises de Piété des Ecoles chrétienne. Before and after breakfast and the afternoon snack and during the entire school time from 8:30 until 10:00 in the morning and from 2:00 until 3:30 in the afternoon, the prayers which are indicated in this same book will be said.
There will always be two or three students, one from each class, kneeling and reciting the rosary in some place in the school which has been chosen by the Director or the Inspector and arranged for this purpose. At each hour of the day, some short prayers will be said. These will help the teachers to recollect themselves and recall the presence of God; it will serve to accustom the students to think of God from time to time and to offer God all their actions, and so to draw upon themselves God's blessing. At the beginning of each lesson, a few short Acts [prayers] will be said to ask of God the grace of studying well and learning well.
The morning prayers will be said at 10:45, if the students assist at Holy Mass during school. If they do not assist at Holy Mass before the end of school in the morning, the morning prayers will be said at 10:00 o'clock.
In the afternoon, the evening prayers will be said at the end of school at 4:30. During the winter, from the first school day in November until the end of January, these prayers will be said at 4:00 o'clock.
ARTICLE II
Meditations at Morning Prayers and Examination
of Conscience at Evening Prayers
There are five meditations in the morning prayers for the five school days of the week. All of them will be read each day, a short pause being made after each one. The student who is leading the prayers, after having read all of these meditations, will repeat the one to which special attention is to be given that day. Then a pause of the duration of a Miserere10 will be made. During this time, the teacher will make a little exhortation, suited to the capacity of the students and on the subject of this meditation.
All of these five meditations will be repeated in the order indicated and each in turn will serve as the subject of an exhortation on each of the five school days in the week. An examination of conscience is part of the evening prayers. This examination contains those sins which children most ordinarily commit. The examination is divided into four articles, and each article is subdivided into five points. Only one of these articles will be read each day, and this same article will be read every day during that week. Thus, the four articles will be read in four weeks.
Each teacher will explain to the class one of the points of the article which is being read during that week. Teachers will make known in detail to the students the sins which they are liable to commit, without ever deciding whether the sin is mortal or venial. Teachers will, at the same time, seek to inspire horror of these sins and suggest the means of avoiding them.
ARTICLE III
Prayers Said in School on Special Occasions
On all Saturdays and on the eves of the feasts of the Blessed Virgin, the litany of the Blessed Virgin will be recited after evening prayers.
On the eve of Christmas, of the Epiphany, and of the Purification, the litany of the Holy Child Jesus will be recited at the end of evening prayers.
On the eve of the Feast of the Circumcision, the litany of the Holy Name of Jesus will be recited. On the eve of the Feast of Saint Joseph, the litany of that saint will be recited.
All of these prayers will be recited in the manner that is indicated in the Le Livre des Exercises de Piété des Ecoles chrétienne.
During the octave of Corpus Christi and on the Monday and Tuesday before Lent, the following is to be done. Instead of the rosary which is usually said in school, students from each class will be sent two by two, to adore the Blessed Sacrament in the nearest church where it is exposed. If there are three classes they will go by three, and in greater number according to the number of classes. They will remain there kneeling for a half hour. However, care will be taken that there always be one student capable of insuring the good conduct of any of these groups.
On the three Ember Days, on the Feast of Saint Mark, and on the Rogation Days, the litany of the Saints will be recited in the morning after the prayer which is said on entering school and immediately before the prayer which is said before breakfast. This litany is recited for the needs of the Church, the special intention on these days, and for the priests and other ministers of the Church who are to be ordained on that Ember Saturday.
Whenever in the school the sound is heard of the little bell which warns that the Blessed Sacrament is being carried to some ill person, all the students will kneel down. Each student will use this time to adore the Blessed Sacrament, until the teacher makes a sign to rise.
When one of the teachers in the town dies, the psalm which begins De profundis will be said for the repose of the teacher's soul. This prayer will be said on the first three school days after the teacher's death. It is to be said at the end of prayers, both in the morning and in the evening before the Benediction. The leader of prayers will say one versicle, and the other students will say the next. When the psalm is finished, the leader will say the collect which begins Inclina Domine. In all the other Houses of the Institute, on one day a De profundis with the collect which begins Inclina will be said in school.
When a student of one of the classes in a school dies, the psalm which begins De profundis and the collect which begins Inclina Domine will be said at the end of the evening prayer on the first school day after the death, provided the student be at least seven years old.
No other prayers will be said in school; there will be prayers on no other occasions than those which are indicated in the present article. Nothing will be added to the prayers indicated in the present article without the orders of the Superior of the Institute. In case of some public necessity or for some other occasion which concerns the needs of the Institute, the Superior may add the litany of the Blessed Virgin or some other short prayer at the end of prayers, and for a specified time only.
ARTICLE IV
Posture of the Teacher and the Students during Prayers, the Manner of Saying Them, and the Order that Should Be Maintained
Teachers will act during prayers, as well as on all other occasions, as they wish the students to act. To effect this, during the prayers on entering school, the morning prayers, the night prayers, the prayers said at the end of school, and the Acts which are said before going to Holy Mass, teachers will always remain standing before the teacher's chair with a very serious demeanor, very restrained and thoroughly composed, with arms crossed, and maintaining great decorum. In this way, teachers will give an example to the students of what they should do during this time.
The students will always kneel in orderly rows. They will keep their bodies erect, their arms crossed, and their eyes lowered. The teacher will watch that they do not move, that they do not change their position, that they lean neither on the bench before them nor on the one behind them, that they do not touch the benches nor seat themselves on their heels, that they do not turn their heads to look around them, and, above all, that they do not touch one another, something they will not do if the teacher sees that they always keep their arms crossed.
During the other prayers which are said at various times in school, teachers and students will remain seated at their places, with their arms crossed, and with the same decorum that they should maintain at morning and evening prayers, as described above.
There will be in each school one student of the principal class who will be appointed to begin all the prayers which are said in that school. For this reason, this student will be called the Reciter of Prayers.
This student will alone announce all of the titles of the Acts, the meditations, and the examination, all according to the usage established in the schools.
The Reciter of Prayers will be especially careful to say the prayers in a loud voice and in a manner intelligible to all, saying the prayers very slowly, so that the others can hear very distinctly all that is said, even to the least syllable, and observing all of the pauses. Meanwhile, teachers will see that the students do not shout out and that they do not speak too loudly. Students should recite their prayers so that they can barely be heard.
All of the students will follow the Reciter of Prayers in such a manner that they will not say a single word either before or after the Reciter of Prayers does. They will stop at all the pauses and pause as long as the Reciter does. In this way, there will be no confusion. Students will prepare to say the prayers as soon as the bell begins to ring, and the Reciter of Prayers will begin as soon as it has stopped ringing.
All will make the sign of the cross every time that the words In nomine Patris, etc. or Au nom du Pére, du Fils, etc. are said, and in the Benediction at the words Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Teachers will speak neither to any particular student nor to them all in general during prayers, either to reprimand them or for any other reason. Teachers will not correct any student during this time for any reason whatsoever. If a teacher notices someone who is doing something reprehensible and who deserves chastisement, the teacher will defer it to another time. Teachers will likewise abstain from everything that could distract the attention which the students owe to the prayers, and from everything that might cause distraction, such as making a student move from one place to another, and the like.
The principal duty of teachers during prayers will be to watch with very great attention over all that takes place in the school. Teachers will also watch over themselves, and much more during this time than at any other. In this way, they will not do anything inappropritate and, above all, they will not be guilty of any frivolity.
9 The hymn, "Come Holy Spirit," was in Latin in the mornings and in French in the afternoons.
10 The duration of the pause is roughly equivalent to the length of time required to recite the Fiftieth Psalm, which begins with the word Miserere.
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