Yesterday: Norwalk Catholic School's "Spirit Day"

Yesterday was "Spirit Day" at Norwalk Catholic School. A special celebration as part of the school's homecoming week in which all of the students and teachers from Kindergarten through 12th grade wore red NCS t-shirts, it reminded me a lot of a Red Mass, as its purpose was to invoke the blessings of the Holy Spirit upon the school, its students, and the new school year.

The theme was "Spirit with a capital 'S' ". Get it? School spirit. The Holy Spirit. Parents were invited to attend, so I spent the late morning and early afternoon with Jamie and his Kindergarten class as they attended a special all-school prayer service, lunch, and pep rally.

The featured speaker at the pep rally was former head football coach at Notre Dame, Coach Gerry Faust. I was struck by Coach Faust's deep devotion to Our Blessed Mother. In addition to lighting a candle every day at Notre Dame's famed grotto during his 5-year tenure as head coach, a few years ago he went on a pilgrimage to Fatima, Lourdes, and Medjugorje. In his inspiring talk, Coach Faust exhorted the students to (1) love their parents, (2) never give up on their dreams, and (3) live their lives in service of others. (Photo source: blog.Cleveland.com)

Here's a Norwalk Reflector article from a few days before the event:

As part of homecoming week, Norwalk Catholic School will be celebrating "Spirit Day" Wednesday.

The day is designed to promote school spirit as well as a "holy" spirit. [ED.: Heh - "a 'holy' spirit"? I would've thought that a small-town newspaper in a very religious town like Norwalk would be better informed about religion than their big-city counterparts.] Many activities are planned. The highlight of the day will be a presentation by one of America's winningest high school football coaches, predecessor to the legendary Lou Holtz at Notre Dame, Gerry Faust.

Faust is a graduate, former teacher and coach in Catholic schools and has an inspiring message to share with students, staff and parents. He will relate dramatic stories from his own life to illustrate the direct connection between our personal success, our prayers, and our faith and trust in God.

Students in grades kindergarten through 12 will gather in the St. Paul Convocation Center at 12:45 to hear Faust. Led by the school's pep band and cheerleading squad, they will also cheer their team toward victory in Saturday's homecoming game against South Central.

The day will also include a Mass for grades kindergarten through 6 at 9 a.m., a prayer service in St. Paul Church at 11, a picnic lunch, a song presentation by first and second graders, an explanation of the mission of the school by high school students, with banners to illustrate it presented by some representatives from the elementary school and family groups for the elementary students. Parents and friends are welcome to be a part of the day.

Norwalk Catholic School students and staff members will receive a "spirit" T-shirt proclaiming the proud past and promising future of the school to wear that day...

UPDATE
The Norwalk Reflector's coverage of the event, including about 40 seconds of video of Coach Faust's address, can be viewed here.

MARY LISA BOOSE/REFLECTOR Former Notre Dame football coach Gerry Faust
slaps hands with Norwalk Catholic School students Wednesday afternoon
after speaking to the student body and parents for Spirit Day to
celebrate homecoming week.