Our Lady Academy

SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT

At Our Lady Academy we strive to provide each young woman with multiple opportunities to meet the person of Jesus in her life and to develop a personal relationship with her God.

We offer opportunities for spiritual growth in the following ways: Religion Curriculum, Religious Assemblies, Retreat Program, Campus Ministry, Service.
   


Religion Curriculum

Each young woman is required to successfully complete a religion class each year she is enrolled at OLA.  The curriculum includes:

 
Seventh Grade
– Liturgy and Creed
 
Eighth Grade
– Morality and Church History
 
Ninth Grade
– Old Testament
 
Tenth Grade
– Morality
 
Eleventh Grade
– New Testament
 
Twelfth Grade
– Christian Vocations and Social Justice


Religious Assemblies

Throughout the academic year, the OLA school community gathers for liturgy, prayer, prayer services and other religious celebrations. These include:

 
Monthly school liturgy
 
Liturgy on all Holy Days
 
Catholic Schools Week
 
Tri-School Liturgy
 
Beginning of the year theme setting and prayer service
 
Mercy Day prayer service and celebration
 
Thanksgiving prayer service
 
Christmas religious assembly
 
May crowning
 
Ring ceremony
 
Graduation Liturgy
 
Advent and Lenten Penance Services
 
Lenten Stations of the Cross
 
Eighth Grade Promotion Prayer Service


Retreat Program

Each student is also expected to make a yearly retreat with her class.  These are one-day retreats for the seventh through tenth graders and a two-day, overnight retreat for the juniors and seniors. 


Campus Ministry

Campus Ministry, a service organization at Our Lady Academy, has a two-fold mission:

  1)
Minister to OLA with prayer services, liturgies, and reconciliations.
  2)
Create and maintain an Outreach Program to the civic community.

For OLA, the Campus Ministry Organization prepares daily prayer for the WOLA Internal TV, Holy day Masses, Catholic
Schools Week Mass, Advent and Lent Reconciliations, special prayer services for different occasions.

For the civic community, the Campus Ministry Organization connects OLA with an Outreach Program.  Some of the activities are:

 
1)
Hold a “Baby Shower” in October for the Catholic Diocese Morning Star Pregnancy Center,
     
 
2)
Sponsor “Respect Life” projects in October,
     
 
3)
Prepare Breast Cancer Awareness Posters and raise funds for the Susan G. Komen “Race for the Cure” in October,
     
 
4)
Sponsor a Food Collection in November for Hancock County Food Pantry,
     
 
5)
Contribute to the “Operation Christmas Child” in November,
 
 
6)
Collect Christmas presents for families at the Gulf Coast Women’s    Center for Non-Violence in December,
 
 
7)
Collect “Pennies for Patients” for the MS Leukemia/Lymphoma Society in February,
 
 
8)
Collect food and other needed items for the local Animal Shelter in March,
 
 
9)
Participate in the “Relay for Life” and raise funds for the Cancer Society in May and
 
 
10)
Visit the residents at the Dunbar Village Nursing Home throughout the year.

 

Service

Service is one of the Core Values of a Mercy education.  Each of our young women is challenged to view each person as a child of God and expected to give service to her school, her Church, and her local community.  Service hours are tracked by the head of Campus Ministry and recognition is given at the awards assembly each spring.


Copyright 2009 Our Lady Academy.
Graphic Design provided by Laurent Tanner, Class of '84, Identity Creative Solutions.
Website Constructed by Wendy Erichsen Diard, Class of '81, Diard Website Services.