Liturgies at the Heart of De La Salle

Liturgies have always been and continue to be an integral part of the faith life of De La Salle High School. Throughout the years, De La Salle has celebrated liturgies as a way to bring the student body together, celebrate a common identity, and give students a dedicated time and space to pause, reflect, pray, and truly remember that they are in the “holy presence of God.”

The word “liturgy” comes from a Greek root word signifying “the work of the people.” It is important to recognize this root word as it best explains how liturgies are done at this school. Liturgies are not performances or shows. They are gatherings of our students who come together to pray communally. They rely upon full, active, and conscious participation of our students to make them the best prayer experiences for our school. Not only do we encourage our entire student body (now of over 1,000 students) to actively participate, but we also invite many students to take on active roles in each of our liturgies. Students serve as ushers, readers, altar servers, cross bearers, singers, musicians, and candle bearers. The adults in our community also actively participate as lectors, Eucharistic ministers, musicians, and singers. When we gather for our liturgies, we truly are celebrating the fruit of the “work of the people.”

Currently, De La Salle celebrates 7-8 all-school liturgies throughout the year. Most of these align with major Holy Days of the Catholic Church (e.g,. Feast of the Immaculate Conception, All Saints Day, etc.). Other all-school liturgies celebrate the unique life of De La Salle, such as our Mass of the Holy Spirit to begin the school year and our Founder’s Day Liturgy, which we celebrate around the birthday of our founder, St. John Baptist de la Salle. In addition to this, every grade has its own special weekend liturgy where family members are invited to join their sons in praying together with their fellow Spartans. Our culminating liturgy each year is our Baccalaureate Mass, in which we celebrate our graduating seniors and pray a blessing over them as they go forth from De La Salle to make a positive impact on the world.

As we celebrate our sixty years of De La Salle, we recognize that much has changed over the years since 1965. Yet our confident proclamation of our belief in the holy presence of God has not changed, and the celebration of our liturgies is a tangible expression of that belief.