Camping Trip to George Washington National Forest

Posted on March 7, 2017 by admin

by David McMyne

On Friday, March 3^rd, I took a group of students all the way down to the George Washington National forest right across from Shenandoah National park for a weekend camping trip. After a long drive south, we hiked three miles up a mountain on a trail that was at times extremely steep. Once we got to the top, we set up camp. The stars were breathtaking and several of us did not pitch a tent so that we could gaze upon them as we fell asleep. We woke up after a cold first night and ate breakfast and soon after discovered that the Northeast side of the mountain was much warmer and blocked the wind, so we moved camp. Then the guys explored the mountainside and the river, played cards by the fire or worked on their sleeping arrangements for the coming night. After a glorious sunset, the boys sang songs and cooked dinner around the campfire. After dinner, they told stories, sang more songs to the valley below, and went to bed early. The next morning everyone was up before sunrise. James Smith started a fire and we warmed up while watching the sun slowly paint the mountains and valleys around. After cooking breakfast and packing up, we hiked out and attended Mass in Front Royal, VA. After Mass, Peter Gaetano, an alumnus from 2012, and his wife Elizabeth hosted us for a fantastic brunch before the long ride home later that day. The trip was an unforgettable adventure. The Shenandoah mountains and valleys already harken us b

ack and the words of the folk song “O Shenandoah” echo in our minds as we dream of those special places in our hearts.

Camping Adventure in New Jersey

Posted on March 2, 2017March 2, 2017 by admin

Over the last weekend in February, dorm father David McMyne took a van of students on a camping adventure. After driving three hours south they arrived on the edge of the one-million-acre Pine Barrens Forest of New Jersey. They sang some songs and hit the hay after hiking four miles to their campsite and setting up in the dark. The next day they woke up early, had breakfast, and then everyone set off to explore the vast and beautiful forest. Some students hiked the trails or wandered around the pitch pine forest covered with sand. Others went to the great cedar swamps that cover hundreds of acres. After a full day of hiking and exploring in gorgeous weather, they all came back to get ready for the impending thunderstorm. After battening down the hatches and making sure they were ready for the storm, they sang songs till it finally hit with a giant role of thunder. Quickly getting into their shelters, they settled down to wait out the storm. Some boys were singing, others playing cards, talking, reading, or sleeping. The storm with all its power and rain did not at all dampen the spirits of the campers; quite the opposite. After the storm, the students cooked dinner and shared stories of the day before heading to bed. The trip was a great success, teaching the budding woodsmen to appreciate and enjoy whatever nature might offer whether that be a beautiful sunny day or a powerful thunderstorm. Thank you, Mr. McMyne for organizing the trip!

Robbie Burns Day

Posted on February 15, 2017February 15, 2017 by admin

This poet who crafted the speech of the common man, the man of the soil, the farmer, to the profoundest poetic expression is honored with a feast every year at the Academy, following the tradition of Scots all over the world. We Highlanders are Celtic by adoption and it is fitting that we should celebrate Robert Burns who changed the way English speaking people think about poetry.

Robbie Burns day was filled with happy activity—boys gathering pine branches and festooning the entry, common areas, and refectory with green, boys helping the Master of Ceremonies, Mr. Strong, to cook and lay the tables, boys greeting their families who had traveled far to join in the feast. There was the ceremonial parading in of the haggis, accompanied by a recitation of Burns’ “To a Haggis;” the humorous Toast to the Lasses, followed by the lasses’ retaliatory toast To the Lads, both original compositions by staff members. Then guests and hosts sat to a feast of cock-a-leekie soup, shepherd’s pie, and of course, the haggis. The customary Immortal Memory Address by Mr. John Burger, an alumnus, was received with enthusiastic applause, and the freshman class performed “Tam O’Shanter” as a hilarious drama. Each class took its turn to sing either a rousing Burns plea for the rights of Man, one of his sentimental love ballads, or a Scots battle cry.

We love the poets who give us words for “thoughts too deep for tears” and it is right and proper to honor them and to celebrate God’s gift of poetry. It is deeply satisfying to share what we love with our friends, and we pray we will be granted the opportunity to see again the many happy faces we saw on Burns Night for many happy years.

A Banquet in Honor of the Immaculate Conception – 2016

Posted on December 19, 2016 by admin

The boys of St. Gregory’s celebrated the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception with a day of feasting. It was the second of four banquets they hold every year, and which are central to the spirit of their school. The Academy is a family and the domestic meal is the expression of community—it is a sign and celebration of the gratitude that follows and flows from those labors of love and life that bind people together. This is especially the case when celebrating the familial ties that all share under the Motherhood of the Mother of God. As Catholics, we are a people united by the hallowed ties of family and faith, who have the strength to smile in the face of tribulation and yet rejoice in the good things of heaven and earth. Banquet days at St. Gregory’s are days of enjoyment (in Latin, fruor, “I enjoy;” related to “fruitfulness”)—not days of mere pleasures. The sturdy fare heaps high on the boards together with that type of plenteous cheer that is well grounded in the sweat and suffering that begets true enjoyment. Our banquets, like our salvation through the Mediatrix of all grace, is the fruit of toil and trust. This is the heart and origin of the Immaculate Conception Banquet, and it is an experience that is slipping away from the culture at large. The idea and ethics of meals is deteriorating into a hurried and harried pre-packaged affair punctuated by interruptions. If anything can help reverse the trend, it is those old-fashioned and sacred approaches to food and fellowship that remind us what it means to hold a Feast Day and why it is important.