Elementary K-3 Campus Newsletter

February 15, 2008

ocs It was good to see everyone back at school today! I am sure the children enjoyed the snow days! As of now the “make-up” days will be added to the end of the school calendar. When we get an updated calendar we will send I home with your child.

ocs Just a reminder that there will be NO SCHOOL on Monday, February 18 for Presidents Day. Enjoy the 3-day weekend and we will see you Tuesday morning!

Thank you for your patience on Monday during the early dismissal. We had very short notice that Daviess County was going to dismiss school 2 hours early, but everyone pulled together and made the best out of a hectic situation!

ocs Please remind your child to try and do ONE of the special deeds or sacrifices that were sent home at the beginning of Lent. They will get to add a jellybean each time they bring in one of the signed squares. As we see our Jellybeans grow- we know that our good deeds and Lenten sacrifices are growing too!

If you need a new form for a 2007-2008 Yearbook, please let us know! The books are $10 and all orders must be in by February 21, 2008.

Happy Birthday this week to: Tyler Clark, Faith Payne, Josh Teets, Grace Jacob, Katie Murphy, Title 1 Teacher, Mrs. Linda Todd, and “honorary cafeteria worker”- Mrs. Josephine Head turns 90!

Important Dates:

February 15- PSAS forms due for 1st Round of Financial Assistance
February 18- No School
February 21- Sacred Heart of Jesus Prayer Service (No Mass)
February 21- Yearbook Order forms and money due
February 29- Free Dress Day
March 4- Open House
March 7- No School
March 9 -11- Accreditation Site Team Visits K-3 Campus
March 17-21- Pre-registration
March 21- Good Friday
March 24- K & 1st Grade CAT6 Testing
March 28- No School- Spring Break

ocs If you know someone who is interested in sending their child to the K-3 Campus, please invite them to our OPEN HOUSE on March 4, 2008 from 6:00-7:30. Potential families can tour the school. Teachers and staff will be on hand to meet and greet future OCS students and their families!

February 11- OUR LADY OF LOURDES- It was on February 11, 1858, that a beautiful lady first appeared to Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes, France. Bernadette was a sickly girl. Her family was so poor they lived in a cellar that had once been a jail. Even though she was fourteen, Bernadette still could not read or write. She never could remember her catechism lessons, but she was a good girl. She loved God very much. Although her memory was poor, Bernadette kept trying hard to learn all she could about God. She was pure and obedient, too. The beautiful lady Bernadette saw wore a white dress and a light blue sash. A white veil covered her head and fell over her shoulders to the ground. On her feet were two lovely golden roses. Her hands were joined and a rosary hung from her right arm. Its chain and cross shone like gold. The lovely lady encouraged Bernadette to say the Rosary. She appeared eighteen times to St. Bernadette. She asked her to tell the people to pray, to do penance and to recite the Rosary for sinners. During the last apparition, Bernadette asked the beautiful lady who she was. The lady replied, "I am the Immaculate Conception." She was Mary, the Mother of God.
A large church called a basilica was built where Bernadette saw Our Lady. Although the apparitions took place 150 years ago, miracles still happen there. Many people are cured of sicknesses. Crippled people walk again. Blind people see again. Lonely, broken people find hope again. There, where she once appeared to St. Bernadette, Our Lady still shows her love for us.

February 13- ST. CATHERINE OF RICCI Alexandrina was born in 1522 into the Ricci family of Florence, Italy. At the age of thirteen, the girl entered the Dominican order. As a sister she chose the name Catherine. Even at that young age, Catherine had a deep love for the passion of Jesus Christ. She used to think about Our Lord's sufferings often. Jesus gave her the great privilege of receiving in her own body the marks of his wounds. She was happy to accept all the pains of these wounds. Catherine also felt very sorry for the poor souls suffering in purgatory. She realized how they longed to be with God in heaven. She realized, too, that this time in purgatory seemed to drag on endlessly. St. Catherine prayed and did penance for them. Once God let her know that a certain man was in purgatory. So great was her love that she offered to suffer for him. God listened to her prayer and she suffered greatly for forty days. After a long, painful illness, St. Catherine died at the age of sixty-eight. It was February 2, 1590. She was proclaimed a saint by Pope Clement XII in 1747.

February 14 - ST. CYRIL AND ST. METHODIUS- These two brothers were from Thessalonica, Greece. Methodius was born in 815 and Cyril in 827. Both became priests and shared the same holy desires to spread the faith. They became missionaries to the Slav nations of Moravia, Bohemia and Bulgaria. This is how it happened: In 862, just seven years before Cyril's death, the prince of Moravia asked for missionaries. They would bring the Good News of Jesus and the Church to his country. The prince added one more request: that the missionaries speak the language of his people. The two brothers, Cyril and Methodius, volunteered and were accepted. They realized that they were being asked to leave their own country, language and culture behind out of love for Jesus. They did this willingly. Cyril and Methodius invented a Slav alphabet. They translated the Bible and the Church's liturgy into the Slav language. Because of them, the people were able to receive Christianity in words they could understand. The two brothers faced criticism. They were called to Rome to have a meeting with the pope. Pope Adrian II showed his gratitude and admiration for the two missionaries. He approved their methods of spreading the faith and named them bishops. It seems that Cyril, a monk, died before he could actually be consecrated a bishop but Methodius was. Cyril died on February 14, 869. He is buried in the Church of St. Clement in Rome. Methodius returned to the Slav countries and continued his labors for fifteen more years. He died on April 6, 885. On December 31, 1980, Pope John Paul II declared St. Cyril and St. Methodius co-patrons of Europe along with St. Benedict.