Alberta Catholic School Trustees' Association

On August 8, the Church honors St. Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers.

Born around 1170 in Spain, Dominic was moved by the confusion and error he saw spreading through the Church of his day. His answer was not force but formation. He gathered preachers who would first study deeply and then proclaim clearly, convinced that truth, well understood and lovingly shared, could win hearts that argument alone never could. He founded his order in 1216 and died in Bologna in 1221.

His witness inspires us as Catholic trustees. We are stewards of schools built on the conviction that truth matters, that it can be known, taught, and loved, and that forming minds in that truth is itself an act of charity.

Saint Dominic, pray for us!

On August 6, the Church celebrates the Transfiguration of the Lord. On a high mountain, Jesus was changed before Peter, James, and John: his face shining like the sun, his clothes dazzling white, Moses and Elijah beside him. Then a voice came from the cloud: "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him."

The timing was deliberate. Christ revealed his glory just before turning toward Jerusalem and the cross, giving his closest friends a glimpse of Easter to carry them through Good Friday. Peter wanted to stay on the mountain and build tents. But the vision was not a place to remain; it was strength for the road down.

The Transfiguration reminds us that glimpses of glory are given for the sake of the journey, not as an escape from it.

For us as Catholic trustees, the same holds true. The moments of clarity and grace we are given are meant to sustain us in the ordinary, demanding work of service, and we are sent back down the mountain with one instruction: listen to him.

Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ!

What are our decisions ultimately for?

On July 31, the Church honors St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, who spent his life answering that question with a single phrase: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, "for the greater glory of God."

He did not begin as a saint. A Basque soldier wounded by a cannonball in 1521, Ignatius converted while recovering, trading worldly ambition for Christ. Born around 1491, he founded the Society of Jesus in 1540 and gave the Church his Spiritual Exercises, a method of prayer and discernment still practiced five centuries later. He died in 1556 and became patron of retreats and, fittingly, of Catholic education.

Ignatius taught that good decisions are discerned, not merely made: weighed in prayer, tested against our deepest desires, and ordered toward God rather than self.

His witness inspires us as Catholic trustees. Every choice we face carries the same question Ignatius asked: does this serve the greater glory of God and the good of those entrusted to us?

Saint Ignatius, pray for us!

As trustees, we pray for the intercession of this great Doctor of the Church, for assistance in our mission to proclaim the Gospel through our work!

O God, who made the Bishop Saint Peter Chrysologus
an outstanding preacher of your Incarnate Word,
grant, through his intercession,
that we may constantly ponder in our hearts
the mysteries of your salvation
and faithfully express them in what we do.

📖 Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved.

On July 25, the Church honors St. James the Greater, apostle and the first of the Twelve to die for Christ. A fisherman from Galilee and brother of St. John, he was among the three closest to Jesus, present at the Transfiguration and in the garden at Gethsemane.

He began as an ambitious man. He and his brother asked for the highest seats in the kingdom, and Christ answered by redefining greatness itself: "Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant." James learned the lesson. Around the year 44, he was beheaded by Herod Agrippa in Jerusalem, the first apostle to drink the cup his Lord had promised him.

His witness inspires us as Catholic trustees. We hold real authority, and Christ tells us plainly what it is for: not status, but service.

Saint James, pray for us!

On July 22, the Church honors St. Mary Magdalene, the first witness to the Resurrection. Christ freed her from seven demons, and she never left his side after that, following him to the cross when nearly everyone else had fled.

Mercy made her an apostle. In 2016, Pope Francis raised her memorial to a feast, affirming the ancient title given her by tradition: "Apostle to the Apostles." The one who had been healed became the one sent, entrusted with the greatest news ever carried: "I have seen the Lord."

Her story is a reminder that no one is defined by their worst chapter. Christ did not merely forgive Mary Magdalene, he commissioned her.

Her witness inspires us as Catholic trustees. We are called to build schools where every student is met with mercy, where forgiveness is real and offered again, and where no young person is written off.

Saint Mary Magdalene, pray for us!

On July 15, the Church honors St. Bonaventure, patron of students and Doctor of the Church.

Known as the Seraphic Doctor, a title drawn from the seraphim who burn with love before God's throne, he taught that all learning finds its meaning in Christ, "the one teacher of all."

Born around 1217 in Bagnoregio, Italy, he joined the Franciscans, taught theology at the University of Paris alongside his friend St. Thomas Aquinas, and led the Order of Friars Minor as Minister General for seventeen years. He died in 1274 while serving at the Second Council of Lyons, and was named a Doctor of the Church in 1588.

Bonaventure warned against study that never reaches the heart: reading without devotion, knowledge without love. Learning, he insisted, is a journey toward God.

His witness inspires us as Catholic trustees. We are called to form schools where knowledge and faith are never separated, and where Christ remains the one teacher of all.

Saint Bonaventure, pray for us!

On July 11, the Church honors St. Benedict of Nursia, known as the "father of Western monasticism." His enduring gift to the Church today is a way of living together well, as followers of Christ.

Born around 480 in Nursia, Italy, and dying around 547, Benedict wrote a "Rule" - a principled way of life - so wise and humane that it has shaped Christian communities for over fifteen centuries. Its aim was simple: to "prefer nothing whatever to Christ."

Pope St. Paul VI, naming Benedict patron of Europe, praised him as a "messenger of peace" and "molder of union." His Rule taught leaders to govern with humility, to seek counsel from every member of the community, and to keep Christ at the center of daily work and prayer alike.

His witness inspires us as Catholic trustees. Like Benedict, we are called to listen carefully, to lead with humility, and to keep Christ first in all we do.

Saint Benedict, pray for us!

Happy Canada Day! Lord, help us to keep you at the center of our lives and at the center of our nation. We pray for our Catholic schools in Canada, that they would be places of holiness and that from our schools would come people who want to see our nation flourish, according to God's will.

Sts. Peter and Paul share a single feast because, though very different men, both were martyred in Rome under Emperor Nero and, together, founded the Church in Rome, as its two great pillars. As St. Augustine put it, "Although their martyrdom occurred on different days, they were one."

St. Peter, the fisherman whom Christ named the Rock and gave the keys to the kingdom, represents the Church's unity and authority; St. Paul, the convert and Apostle to the Gentiles, represents her mission of evangelization to the whole world. Together, in the words of Pope Benedict XVI, they "represent the whole Gospel of Christ."

Their witness is an inspiration to us as Catholic trustees, as we are called to hold these same gifts together: faithfulness to the Church's teaching and bold mission in the public square.

Saint Peter and St. Paul, pray for us!