July 31, 2010

Dear Members of the Prep Community:

Yesterday, the Saint Peter’s Prep faculty and staff gathered for our school celebration of the Feast of Saint Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus.  Fr. John Mullin, S.J., superior of the Saint Peter’s Prep Jesuit Community, presided at the liturgy, and Ryan Heffernan, director of campus ministry, coordinated our lunch.  As you know, Prep is closed for the next two weeks for summer cleaning, and so an early celebration of our Founder was in order.

As I look to today's Feast, please know that you – our parents, alumni, friends and Jesuits – will have a special place in my own celebration of the Feast of Saint Ignatius Loyola.  Ignatius did not begin the Society of Jesus alone, rather he was joined by others like Francis Xavier to serve God in God’s people in new and different ways.  As I reflect on our experience here at Prep, I know that, we, too, come together in this important mission of Jesuit education in order to serve God’s greater glory... in ways that meet the needs of those young men given to us.  This is our ultimate call; it is our ultimate joy.

As you prepare for today’s Feast, please consider using the Sucipe, the prayer of Saint Ignatius, to orient you in prayer and celebration.  Our choral director, Mr. G.P. Eleria, sent me the following presentation of the Sucipe, and I am sending it to you, for your consideration. It is his own arrangement, performed by the Madrigal Singers at the Church of Saint Ignatius Loyola, NYC, and so it has additional meaning for us at Saint Peter’s Prep.  I was moved by this setting, and I offer it as Prep’s gift on this great day.

Thank you for all you do to support Saint Peter’s Prep!  Happy Feast of Saint Ignatius Loyola

Rev. Robert E. Reiser, S.J.
President