Spiritual animation
“What characterizes an Ignatian school is not only an innovative and inclusive didactic project, but also a person’s comprehensive education which takes care to develop all the students’ talents and abilities and that considers the spiritual and religious aspect as an integral part of the whole journey”.
The spiritual animation is intended as a “set of educational opportunities” which enhance the school path.
The religious and spiritual dimension is an important part of a person’s education, not only for the growth in faith, but also for the consequential integration in the Christian community and for the commitment of solidarity and service towards whoever is in need.
The purpose is to assist each student in the discovery of their own inner world, promoting the spiritual growth. This support leads to a development of the fundamental choices of life according to the Spirit and the Gospel’s criteria. In addiction, it aims to support families and teachers in their educational role in accordance with a christian perspective.
The pastoral expreriences interweave and complement each other with the disciplinary and didactic ones, and they are developed according to the criteria of continuity and graduality from 3 to 8 years old. The pastoral activity is programmed and coordinated by an équipe composed by jesuits and lay people.
The proposals are differentiated by age and everyone can freely choose to participate in the activities that most meet their personal sensitivity and help their human and spiritual growth.
Some proposals are also opened to the families, parents, ex-alumni, who thus prove to be a “lively and active” part of the Campus.
Qualifying points:
- The care of the emotional dimension and affective maturation;
- The growth and consolidation of the sense of belonging to the human values and faith which inspire a meaningful life, capable of critical exercise, discernment and passion for truth and service;
- The setting up of a gradual and progressive path of personal prayer;
- The assumption of the sacramental practice;
- “Being” with children, meant as the ability of educators and spiritual animators to spend time, even in informal moments, among children and young people, placing themselves, in a purely Ignatian perspective, in the condition of “companions”, that is, of those who “stand beside”;
Some activities form the foundation of the pastoral activity of the entire campus:
- The education to justice, to globalization, to missionary spirit, to the service to others as a fundamental element of the overall formation of the person, making school pastoral activities a valuable stimulus for all school disciplines, from the humanities to the most technical ones;
- Spiritual accompaniment: the children are accompanied in their growth, from childhood to graduation, through spiritual talks and moments of reflection and praying;
- The celebrations as a proposal to experience concretely and visibly the Lord's presence in the community: the daily Mass (every day, for those who want it, at 7.30 am an Eucharistic celebration before school), the Sunday Mass (every Sunday at 11.30 am an Eucharistic celebration that involves the whole Gonzaga community), celebrations in particular moments of school life (such as, for example, the beginning and the end of the school year, Christmas, Easter, etc...);
- Sacrament of Reconciliation/Confession: in particular times, in the proximity of Christmas and Easter and always at the request of students and relatives, we offer the possibility to children and families to experience the infinite mercy and love of God through the Sacrament of Penance.
- Catechism First Communions: The Gonzaga Institute for more than 10 years follows its students in the growth of faith proposing a path of catechesis to continue the path of Christian initiation begun with baptism. The path lasts 2 years, the first year leads children to the sacrament of confession, the second to the First Communion. The children are entrusted to groups of volunteer catechists. The catechesis meetings are held on Wednesday afternoon from 4 pm to 5.30 pm.
- Confirmation Course: the school offers preparation for the sacrament of confirmation, between the third and the fourth years of high school. The path of preparation for the sacrament of confirmation is part of the School educational offer Plan of the integral formation of the person, deepening and increasingly helping the children to reach maturity in the spiritual sphere. Using the specific tools of Ignatian spirituality the essentials contents of the faith are presented, practicing to identify the signs of the Risen One in one's life. Starting from experience, gradually and without haste, we try to find or rediscover the sense of friendship with God, of the beauty and serenity of following Jesus especially in view of the full and joyful personal fulfillment of one's own existence. Letting oneself being enlightened by the Word of God, we will try to overcome prejudices and superstructures to make room for the infinite tenderness of God so that we can give our adult and conscious assent to God's plan.
- Spiritual retreats: every year, during the Lent, one-day spiritual retreats are proposed to listen more to the Word of God, to the κήρυγμα (Kérygma), to the central message of the Christian proclamation of the Gospel, that is, to the Good News of the salvation worked from Jesus Christ who died and rose again. Starting from lower secondary school / Middle school, with the help of the Class Councils, the proposals for the various middle / middle and high school / high school classes are better specified from time to time, both for the places that can more to help students and both through the different activities that may concern: a work on self-knowledge, meeting and listening to members of a therapeutic community for the prevention of addictions, sharing significant moments and service in a communities of disabled people, an in-depth study of one's relationship with God, "the attack of St. Rosalia", listening to the Word of God appropriate to the participants through the precious instrument of biblical dramatization, listening deeply and living in Lampedusa something of the dramatic experience of migrants, to grow in the dimension of the justice of the Kingdom through the knowledge, listening and prayer of the life of 3P, i.e. of Father Pino Puglisi, marti king of faith, getting help from visiting the places where he lived in the last three years of his life in Brancaccio and stopping in prayer in front of his tomb in the Cathedral, spiritual discernment to help in making choices, etc.
- Kairòs Retreat: this is an adaptation of the Ignatian Exercises for Adolescents; takes place in the fourth year of high school.
- Spiritual Exercises for high school/senior students: a retreat to reflect and orient yourself in the great choices of life.
- Youth Aggregations of Growth in Ignatian Spirituality (Youth Eucharistic Movement, Missionary League Students) and summer camps and missionaries as an instrument of service to others, especially to those in need, with an open and attentive look at the world.
- Proposals for parents and staff, through moments, meetings, training courses, Spiritual Exercises, retreats, other moments and proposals of spirituality and confrontation to offer also to the Gonzaga Community's adults opportunities for growth and spiritual research.
Director: Padre Pierluigi De Lucia S.J.
E-mail: deluciapierluigi@gonzagapalermo.it
