The majestic National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa was the scene of the graduation of two Young Women of Grace homeschool classes on Friday.
After nine months of study, comprised of two one-hour classes per month from September to May, 10 girls received their certificates of completion of the course.
“This class taught me how to pray better than I ever knew before,” said Nanette who was in our high school class. “It was like a morale booster for me – hearing all the stories, being together with the girls, it was a nice break from all the craziness.”
Lexi, also in the high school class, was also impressed with the different types of prayer she was introduced to during the course. “I especially like the saint stories and talking with everyone – and the peanut butter cookies!”
Bernadette said hearing about all the miracles in our Church was “very cool.”
For Tina, her favorite thing about the class was how engaging it was. “And every lesson had a little test. I liked that. I liked taking tests about things that matter to me.”
Cupcakes decorated in Young Women of Grace colors of pink and purple.
As for the middle-school class, they also had a lot to say – but only after our official graduation “Cupcake Procession.” We all processed around the room carrying our pink- and purple-iced cupcakes (the official colors of Young Women of Grace) before each girl was rewarded with a certificate of completion of the course.
“I’m going to miss talking to everyone, hearing their stories, discussing that we read,” Marie said. “Reading the bios of the saints was so great. And I loved the Girls Rock stories about Lila Rose and Tara Lapinski.”
Theresa also loved the bios of the saints as well as Girls Rock.
“I liked it all!” Mary said. Her favorites were the Kairos/Chronos Clock project and the Saints Foldable where the girls compared and contrasted two saints from the study.
Lynn was also impressed with the story of Lila Rose, the founder of LiveAction, a pro-life organization that has brought enormous pressure on Planned Parenthood through their investigative reporting. Rose started the organization when she was just a teen, and that’s what impressed the girls most.
“I liked the mindmap of the Mass!” Lynn added, referring to a blackboard exercise we completed which required the girls to build a “map” of the Mass from the entrance procession to the recessional.
Agnes loved all the activities, especially the time we engaged in a role-playing game where we tried to convince our partner why they should support the right to life.
We finally parted ways, and promised to pray for one another and remain “sacred sisters forever” in our hearts.
Saying goodbye to these beautiful souls was bittersweet. Yes, I’ll miss each and every one of them and their individual personalities. I’ll miss all the spontaneous silliness that seemed to creep into every class to make it so much fun.
But I will be forever blessed by the sight of their feminine hearts blooming into life as they discovered the unique purpose God has entrusted to women. Maybe it’s my imagination, but they all seemed to walk out of the classroom on Friday with their heads held a little higher than when they first came through the door nine months ago.
God has blessed them and all of us who are a part of this sacred mission. Women of Grace, let us never cease to pass on these blessings to the young women who have inherited our sacred munus to “save the peace of the world.”
Click here to bring this extraordinary blessing to your girls today!
