NEWARK — The Mercy Room and the hallways at Christ the Teacher Catholic School were filled with saints on Nov. 3. The school’s fifth-graders continued a tradition when they dressed as various saints and educated their fellow students about certain saints two days after All Saints Day.
Teacher Susan Phillips said the event was a bit different when she arrived at Christ the Teacher 21 years ago. The Mercy Room, which was then the gymnasium, was called the “Saints’ Cemetery, so it was like the children were walking through a cemetery of saints.”
In her second year at the school, the format changed so that students created posters full of information about their specific saint and discussed that with other students.
The fifth-grade students enjoyed spending the day dressed as their saints and talking to other students. Parents visited earlier in the day.
Aria Scarmozzi picked St. Clare of Assisi. She learned that St. Clare is the patron saint of eye diseases and sore eyes, television, embroidery and goldsmiths.
“She was really fun,” Aria said. “When I started learning about her more, I learned that she chopped off all of her hair. I was really surprised.”
Aria said she “would be scared” top chop off her own hair, although she did once give herself a haircut when she was younger. She had a simple answer when asked if that worked out well.
“No,” she said.
Nearby in the Mercy Room, Gianna Antonio portrayed St. Catherine Labouré, a 19th century member of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.
“I really love her because in a dream, St. Vincent de Paul came to her and told her God had plans for her, and Mary also came to her and told her to create the Miraculous Medal. So, I feel like she’s a really influential saint,” Gianna said.
Gianna said she loves how humble St. Catherine was. She had never heard of the saint before beginning this project. She researched lots of facts about her, including her years of birth and death, along with her canonization.
Preschool children did not visit the Mercy Room, but various fifth-graders went to their classrooms. One of those was Cameron Zampini-Woods, who was St. Martin of Tours for the day.
“His feast day is on my birthday, Nov. 11,” Cameron said. “He is the patron saint of a lot of things,” including geese.
Cameron said he enjoyed doing the research for the project and also the costume he wore. He did not make the costume.
“I got it off Amazon,” he said.
One visitor was Father Ed Ogden, pastor of St. Margaret of Scotland Parish, which shares a campus with Christ the Teacher. The first stop for Father Ogden, an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales, was with Liam Allaband, who portrayed the namesake of the priest’s religious congregation. Father Ogden said Liam did a great job researching St. Francis de Sales, and he had the saint’s look down pretty good, including a skull cap to simulate baldness. Father Ogden praised the students.
“They’ve been working on them for weeks, so it gives them an understanding of the person, that they had practical lives,” he said. “They’re amazing.”
Photos by Mike Lang.
