Atlanta
CTK School Honors The Saints—Especially St. Cecilia
Published November 8, 2012
The faculty and students at Christ the King School celebrated All Saints Day on Thursday, Nov. 1, with the help of a beloved fourth-grade tradition, as well as the return of a long lost friend.
One of the highlights of the fourth-grade curriculum at CTK School is the All Saints Day project. Each student selects a saint to research for a written report. At the completion of this unit, each student attends All Saints Day Mass dressed as his or her saint. This year, as he has done so often, Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory celebrated this special Mass.
“The saint project each year is more than just a fun occasion to dress in costume,” said Mary Ryan, fourth-grade teacher at the school. “It’s an opportunity for the children to explore what the saints mean to them.”
In addition, this year’s All Saints Day Mass was made special by the return of a long lost friend—a statue of St. Cecilia. As the story goes, years ago Christ the King had a lovely statue of St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music. The statue disappeared, and over the years, no one could remember what had happened to it.
Tracy Winchester, grandmother of a current CTK student, decided to replace the statue with a new one from Italy as a gift to the school. At this year’s All Saints Day Mass, the new St. Cecilia statue was blessed by the archbishop. The statue’s new permanent home will be in the d’Youville Chapel on campus.