School Traditions
The largest of the 50 all-male high schools run by the Society of Jesus in the United States, St. Xavier shares many Jesuit traditions with other secondary institutions run by the order. For example, graduating students are expected to have acquired the five characteristics defined in the "Graduate at Graduation" profile: Open to Growth, Intellectually Competent, Religious, Loving, and Committed to Justice. Many Jesuit high schools have "Grad at Grad" expectations, although the characteristics and their descriptions vary from school to school.
St. Xavier students are also taught the phrase Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, the motto of the Society of Jesus, and are often instructed to write the initialism "AMDG" at the top of submitted papers and tests, to remind them that even their schoolwork is "For the Greater Glory of God". The seals of both St. Xavier and Xavier University bear the motto Vidit Mirabilia Magna (Latin for "He has seen great wonders"), taken from a passage of the Roman Breviary applied to St. Francis Xavier. As in other Jesuit secondary schools, detention is invariably called "JUG", which is commonly said to mean "Justice Under God".
The school holds school-wide Masses on Holy Days of Obligation and other important events, as well as optional daily Mass in Holy Companions Chapel at the center of campus. Two days a year, classes are canceled, though students are still required to stay in school all day. In place of the daily orders, they attend morning Mass and are then encouraged to spend the day at school as they see fit. The autumn occasion, Spirit Day, is celebrated on the Mass of the Holy Spirit, a feast day that other Jesuit institutions also observe. During the spring occasion, MusicFest, students hold a grill-out on the school parking lot while student bands perform on a nearby stage. MusicFest began in 1986 to cap off Music Appreciation Week. An additional day each fall, classes are preempted for the Walk For X, a 10-kilometer (6.2 mi) walkathon through Finneytown neighborhoods that funds a financial aid program.
Ignatian retreats are offered frequently at St. Xavier. Besides class-wide programs held at the Jesuit Spiritual Center in Milford, optional retreats include Knightwatch for sophomores and Kairos, which was introduced in February 1985 for seniors.
Read more about this topic: St. Xavier High School (Cincinnati)
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