The pillar of prayer is one of the most important at St. Dominic and we have adopted many new opportunities this year to help students live out their faith. There are many ways students can participate through daily mass, adoration, confession and daily prayer.

At St. Dominic the faith is lived out through the sacraments. There is mass every day either during empower hour or before school at 7:30. Normally it is led by chaplain Father Patrick Russell. Occasionally, there will be priests from other parishes to come celebrate mass. All teachers, faculty, staff and students are welcome to join Fr. Russell for mass any day of the week. Junior, Addie Martinez goes to mass frequently throughout the week and finds it impactful for her faith journey.

“I think that daily mass is very impactful because it lets students of all grades come together and dedicate a small portion of their day to God. It’s a way to forget about all your stress from school and take a minute to talk to God,” Martinez said.

Another way to worship God at St. Dominic is at adoration during empower hour every other week. There is adoration during the second half of empower hour that just began this year. Senior Patrick Klassen led students in praise and worship this past week. He brought out his guitar and sang familiar songs which helped a lot of students open up and praise the Lord.

“There is nothing I enjoy more than playing the guitar, so it was extremely fulfilling to be able to use those talents to glorify the Lord. The experience showed me that what sets St. Dominic’s faith opportunities apart is the students’ high level of engagement in their faith,” Klassen said.

There are many ways to glorify God, and it all leads back to prayer. At St. Dominic, we start every day with the St. Dominic blessing. It was written for the school many years ago and has been continued to be said every morning before the day starts. The school day also ends in prayer. These are two times of the day to settle down, release stress from school, and share time in prayer with the entire school.

“Everything we do at St. Dominic is guided by our four Dominican pillars: prayer, study, community, and service. The ordering of those pillars is not arbitrary. There is a reason why prayer is first. It is the pillar that we must put first. That is the reason why every day and class period begin with prayer, it is why the first class you register for is your religion class. We must put prayer first,” Fr. Russell said.

One of the main missions at St. Dominic is to help every single student live their faith to its fullest capacity. This is why there are so many ways to encounter the Lord just during the school day. These are not the only ways you can live out your faith at St. Dominic. There are also clubs such as C.R.U., A.D. Club, and Pro-Life Club. Make sure you find what fits best for you and helps you grow in a relationship with God.