By Mary Frances McCarthy
Herald Staff Report
(From the issue of 6/12/03)

"We should try and do our best to keep peace. If you pray the rosary you show you love God. God is the most important thing in our lives," wrote Claire Hurley, a second grader at St. Agnes School in Arlington.

In celebration of the month of Mary, students at St. Agnes School participated in an art, essay and poetry contest based on Pope John Paul II’s apostolic letter on the Rosary, Rosarium Virginis Mariae.

Principal Carole Stabile and the students who won the contest recently presented Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde with a book of the winning entries. Bishop Loverde prayed the Hail Mary with the students and promised to take their book and pray over it.

Besides meeting the bishop, the students who won the contest were also treated to pizza for lunch, and had their entries published in the school newspaper. All students who participated were allowed to dress out of uniform for a day.

Michael Buono, a third grader, had an award-winning entry in each of the three categories. In his essay on the Last Supper, he wrote, "Jesus loves us so much that He never wants to leave us. That is why, when we go to church, we are receiving Jesus into our souls! We have a little bit of Jesus in our bodies, and we should do our best to show it. When we do, we make Jesus very happy. When we make Jesus happy, we work our way close to Him."

Students who won the contest include: William Hofer, preschool; Caroline Caterini, kindergarten; Cindy Berry, first grade; Claire Hurley and Sarah Ciampa, second grade; Michael Buono and Molly Zinzi, third grade; Brendan Ziebarth and Eric Engebritson, fourth grade; Joel Sainz, seventh grade; and Rozane Craig, eighth grade.

"So the best thing to do is pray," wrote Zinzi. "I know the pope does because he’s the pope and he loves Jesus very much. And since he loves him so much that if he wasn’t a pope he would still love him very much."