The Teaching Power of Sacred Signs in Catholic Schools

Hey friends, I recently contributed an article to the latest issue of the University of Notre Dame’s student journal, The Courtyard Chronicle. Therein, I reflected on the importance of religious imagery—sacred art, signs and symbols—in keeping the Catholic ethos of schools alive, thus making real the world of faith for the young people whom every Catholic educator is called to form, guide and lead to the heart of Jesus Christ. The article can be read below.

Pope Benedict XVI taught that “a life no longer opened up to Heaven, would be empty, a leaden life.”(1) It is therefore the responsibility of every Catholic school teacher to awaken within their students “a new kind of seeing,” namely, a faith “which perceives the Invisible in the visible.”(2) In a word, it is the duty of every Catholic educator to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to awaken within each student the seeing faith of the Universal Church—the faith that learns “to see the openness of heaven.”(3) In this short article, I will present two ways that Catholic educational institutions can awaken within their students the seeing faith of the Church.

Firstly, it is proper for Catholic schools to be replete with sacred art, images and symbols. These include crucifixes, statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and images of saints and other holy men and women. The presence of these exterior signs, displayed in and throughout the school, will not only speak interiorly to the believing heart, but will make “the Church’s common faith visible” to the beholder.(4) Pope Benedict XVI explained that these outward and visible signs are “like a window through which the world of God comes out to us”.(5) His late Holiness expounded that “through the 'image', through the sign, we learn to see the openness of heaven.”(6) Thus, images of the angels and saints are not just mere paintings or photographs, but properly understood, they are windows into Eternity. Therefore, the visible presence of sacred art and icons is indispensable to the evangelical mission of the Church entrusted to every Catholic school. The pedagogical character of every sacred image lies in their being mediating signs that make visible the invisible reality of the “communion of saints, a communion spanning all times and ages.”(7) Sacred art, images and icons must therefore adorn the classrooms and halls of every Catholic school. Therein lies one way to awaken within students the seeing faith of the Church.

Secondly, “the more fully the educational community represents the richness of the ecclesial community, the more capable it will be of fulfilling [the apostolic mission] of the Church.”(8) In a word, the visible presence of Catholic priests, religious sisters and consecrated persons ministering throughout the school community is indispensable to the mission of Catholic education. These Religious persons are “a living memorial of Jesus’ way of living and acting,” and so through the completeness of their life’s total surrender to the divine Master, they will present to students a living image of the richness of the Mystical Body of Christ, and this can lead the whole educational community towards a better understanding of the reality of the great cloud of witnesses which surrounds them.(9) Through their presence and prayers, “we can see the face of a Church that presents that of Christ,” since priests and consecrated persons are a visible sign of that living and personal experience with God.(10) They silently educate the community by impressing upon the minds of students a foretaste of that reality which we call the communion of saints: our intimate communion with Christ in Heaven. For this reason, the Congregation for Catholic Education warns that Catholic schools “must be very aware of the real impoverishment which will result if priests and Religious disappear from the Catholic schools.”(11) Therefore, the presence of Catholic priests, sisters and consecrated Religious who witness to the faith of the Universal Church has tremendous evangelical power and effect, and so their presence is indispensable to awakening within students the seeing faith of the Church.

So, to summarise, I have presented in this short article two ways that Catholic educational institutions can awaken within their students the seeing faith of the Church, namely, to adorn school buildings with sacred art, images and symbols, and also to ensure that priests and other consecrated persons have an active and visible role within the school community. The presence of sacred art and consecrated persons living out their vocations can indeed awaken within each student the seeing faith of the Universal Church—the faith that learns “to see the openness of heaven.”(12).

[1] Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Spirit of the Liturgy, trans. John Saward (Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 2000) 21.

[2] Ibid, 133.

[3] Ibid, 61.

[4] Ibid, 134.

[5] Ibid, 130.

[6] Ibid, 61.

[7] Ibid, 76.

[8] The Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to Faith, (1982), [43].

[9] John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation, Vita consecrata, n. 22, AAS 88 (1996), 396.

[10] The Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, Educating Together in Catholic Schools: A shared Mission between Consecrated Persons and the Lay Faithful, (2007), [33].

[11] Lay Catholics in Schools, [45].

[12] Spirit of the Liturgy, 61.