Fr. Marcel Stannus
Message from the Principal
What does a young man need in the modern world? Religion? Math? Science? A trade? He needs all these things. But most of all, he needs the ability to think - the facility to weigh and value everything in its proper place. He needs to know how to make up his mind, conforming it to truth, based on right reason and on God. He needs wisdom.
To attain wisdom, he needs character. Character is formed by willing to do what is right and having the strength to follow through. Every student, like an athlete, must know how to compete, must train hard and must discipline himself if he wants to succeed; the reward for such training is self-discipline, a foundational virtue that allows boys to enter and navigate the world as men.
Method
At OLMC, we follow the “Friend of the Young” St. John Bosco philosophy and his threefold educational system of Reason, Religion and Kindness.
Adolescents are adults in the making. An adult takes responsibility; he is guided by Reason, not primarily by his emotions. It is not enough to tell adolescents what to do: they must learn the reasons behind actions so that they can know how to recognize and choose the good.
There is no good man without Religion because Man was made for God. A life without God would be a failure. The Faith is at the centre of everything that we do because God is everything. Religion gives men purpose and places their last end before all their actions.
Educators must inspire confidence in their students through kindness. This kindness builds the trust necessary for students to truly become receptive to an educator’s lessons and example. “We are friends of the boys, we take the place of their parents. You will obtain anything from them if they realise that you are seeking their own good. To gain their confidence, act towards them as a good father, who punishes and checks his children only from a sense of duty, when reason and justice manifestly require it.” (St. John Bosco)
The Elementary student learns to study the rudiments of the Faith – to know it and love it in simplicity. The adolescent needs more. He must have the treasures of the Faith opened up to his understanding – he needs Theology. Theology is Faith seeking understanding. When he leaves home, the young man will find his Faith under attack, he will even find himself under pressure to abandon it. Upon Graduation, he must therefore know and be convinced that the Faith is the most precious thing that he has – it alone can lead him to his destiny, it alone can solve the mysteries of life, its guidebook can alone make him happy throughout his life.
His Faith must not be dry knowledge, it must be alive and fed by prayer and the sacraments. Students are taught the routine of a healthy Catholic life – the treasures of the Liturgy, of the Sacraments, of Spiritual Reading and of prayer.
The saints and citizens of tomorrow are the students of today. Our inspiring vocation is to form them.