Students, faculty, girl scouts and 11 Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary crowded into the new prayer room at St. Andrew School in Pasadena to dedicate this space of quiet reflection.
The dedication date coincided with the Feast Day of the Mother Marie-Rose Durocher who founded the Holy Names religious community. “This room is a living testimony to what the Holy Names sisters taught when they were here at St. Andrew’s,” said principal Ken Foersch.
Also on hand at the dedication was Mary Holt a junior at Poly Technical High School who undertook the transformation of this space from storage room to prayer room for her Girl Scout Gold Award project. “It took me two months over the summer,” she said of the project that involved not only hard manual labor but also fundraising for furniture and other supplies. Holt enlisted the help of fellow scouts, local contractors and craftsmen to get the job done.
During the dedication, Father Jose Corral, associate pastor, was thrilled that the space is already part of the school landscape, used daily by students and faculty since it was completed this summer. “I have seen them invite one another to come in here for a moment of prayer,” he said.
Students’ prayers color a large prayer bulletin board and range from asking help for family and friends as well as larger issues of peace and care for victims of war and cancer.
