The tradition of welcoming people into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil continued into Easter Thursday, April 24, as St. Rita of Cascia High School baptized two students and confirmed six during an all-school Mass.

They were part of the school’s Order of Christian Initiation for Adults program that began over 30 years ago.

“We found that there were young men who were falling through the cracks, who were not going to religious ed for whatever reason,” said Augustinian Father Tom McCarthy, director of community relations at the school. “There was never a judgment. We thought, ‘Maybe we can help them.’”

Many young men have received the sacraments, including more than 25 who have been baptized, McCarthy said.

“They’ve come to St. Rita, they really maybe didn’t have any faith, but then being a part of what we do here, they said, ‘I want to be part of it.’ They come to us,” he said. 

While other Catholic high schools have students who complete their sacraments or join the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil, St. Rita is believed to be the only or one of the few local Catholic high schools that offers OCIA to its students.

Campus ministers run the school’s program, which is a real commitment for the students who come for formation classes before the start of the school day.

Offering a way for students to enter the church or complete their sacraments fits in with the rule of their founder, St. Augustine, who said the community’s purpose is to come together to be one mind and one heart intent upon God, said McCarthy, who is one of Pope Francis’ Missionaries of Mercy, a role created by the pope in 2016 during the Jubilee of Mercy that has since been enshrined in a Vatican constitution.

For example, the school does not have a closing bell.

“We end with a prayer,” he said. “We say the words of Augustine. ‘You’ve made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.’ They are all dismissed. It’s probably the quietest dismissal of any high school in the country.”

A relationship with the Lord is something the school staff invites students into. No one is forced, McCarthy said.

The school intentionally celebrates the Mass at which students are received into the church in front of the full student body to allow the students who have received their sacraments to show their support.

“It’s real. It’s not contrived or pushed,” McCarthy said.

Junior Jacob Murdoch wanted to be confirmed to become closer to God.

“I feel relieved after waiting so long to finally get my confirmation done, and now I already feel closer to God and stronger in my Catholic faith,” he said. “It felt amazing to complete my confirmation at St. Rita, and especially with all my Rita brothers around me.”

While Ciro Pro’s mother strongly encouraged him to be confirmed, the senior said he also wanted to do it before he went to college.

“I felt that now would be the best time,” Pro said. “It’s still a very big part of my life right now.”

Fellow senior Fernando Santos was baptized and received first Communion and confirmation during Mass.

“Coming to St. Rita, I found my faith,” he said after Mass. While he was raised Catholic, his family stopped attending Mass when he was very young and he was never baptized.

Attending Mass at school stirred a desire to become fully Catholic. He entered the OCIA program as a junior, but stopped when sports got in the way. Like Pro, he wanted to receive the sacraments before heading to college.

Freshman Nicholas Pro’s faith began to grow as a student at St. Jane de Chantal School.

“It closed down when I was in fourth grade, so I went to a public school and I wasn’t on a path with God,” Nicholas Pro said. “So when I got here, I reconnected with him and I got confirmed. I feel blessed.”

Ciro Pro had a message of encouragement for fellow students who might want to receive their sacraments.

“You don’t want to regret not doing it, then having your faith watered down and then losing your faith at that point,” he said.

Being confirmed was always part of freshman Jacob Hernandez’s plans.

“I will be a lot closer to God [being confirmed], and being an official member of the Catholic Church is a real big deal for me,” he said.

His father, Roberto Hernandez, was smiling after Mass and said he was proud of Jacob.

“It’s amazing seeing the dedication he had towards getting closer to God,” Roberto Hernandez said. “It was one of the reasons we chose St. Rita, because we wanted him to get closer to his religion and understand it.”

His son is always asking questions about God and faith.

“It was really exciting to see his faith grow from the very first day of school until now,” Roberto Hernandez said.

Freshman Cleto Protti said he did not think about being baptized before coming to St. Rita.

“I feel a lot better,” Protti said. “I feel like a weight is off of my shoulders.”

His brother Nino Protti, a senior at St. Rita, said he was proud to see his brother confirmed.

“It made me really happy to see him become a part of the Catholic family,” Nino Protti said.

It is special to see students take control of their faith, said Tony Munzing, assistant director of campus ministry and an alumnus. They are a sign of hope in a world where religious practice is declining, he said.

“I think it’s more powerful at this age, because they get to make that decision on their own,” he said. “Their parents are a powerful influence on them; our parents are our first teachers. But these guys really get the chance to say, ‘Yes, this is something I want to do.’”