Little Saints Attend Mass at St. Ambrose Church

By Mary McCarthy
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the issue of 11/7/02)

ANNANDALE — St. Veronica brought the Shroud of Turin to St. Ambrose Church in Annandale at the 9 a.m. Mass on All Saints Day. St. Augustine carried a scroll of his writings, St. Philomena brought flowers and St. Michael the Archangel carried his shield. Padre Pio arrived with his hands bandaged. Following Mass, St. Ambrose himself was seen blessing children outside the church.

For the last month, the second-grade students at St. Ambrose School in Annandale have been working on projects on the lives of saints. Led by their teacher, Veronica Royal, each student selected a saint and wrote a report on their life. The students presented oral reports to the class dressed up as the saint they were presenting. On All Saints Day, as a finale to this project, the students processed from the school, to the morning Mass dressed as the saints.

Royal said that this project is a wonderful way for the children to "learn about their faith through the acts of the saints."

In his homily, Father Richard Ley, pastor, addressed the students of the school and told them how they might become saints. "You must begin being saints right now. Begin doing what Jesus tells you right now. Be good, by doing good. Do whatever Jesus tells you," said Father Ley. He told the children that although they might think that saints do not become saints until adulthood, that it is easier for an adult to be good, if they were good as a child.

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