School Masses held each Wednesday morning, are
sponsored by each of the academic years in sequence, and also
by other groups. Sponsoring includes assigning servers, readers,
petitioners, gift bearers, musicians, and someone to deliver the
biblical reflection in place of the homily. Decoration of the
altar and chapel is usually done that morning or the night before.
At the start of the year, the Mass of the Holy Spirit is sponsored
by the Senate; the following Wednesday s, Masses are sponsored
by the Seniors, the Juniors, the Sophomores, the Freshmen, and
the Staff, in that order, then the sequence begins again.
Occasionally, the order might be adjusted to accommodate special
needs. For instance, Masses which all students are required to
attend are most often are overseen by the Senate or the Seniors,
examples being the Mass of the Holy Spirit, Thanksgiving, the
Advent Prayer Service, Ash Wednesday, Lenten Prayer Service. Confirmation,
the Departure Mass, and others of its nature. Usually the teaching
staff does not mind being “being” from the schedule,
as the students generally have more time and effort to gibe to
these special occasions. Occasionally, the day might be adjusted
from Wednesday for a special pastoral need, examples being Thanksgiving
(shift to Thursday), Confirmation (day scheduled according to
bishop’s availability), Advent and Lenten Reconciliation
Days (according to availability of priests), or if some special
feast seems to warrant the change.
The mass for the First Friday of each month
is sponsored by the Girls’ community. Occasional Fridays
and Prayer Days are sponsored by the Sacristans and the Campus
Ministry Team. Masses which require special coordination are the
Masses for: the Holy Spirit, which includes a commissioning for
the students and staff (at the start of school year), the Departure
(at the end of school year), Thanksgiving Day (Thursday of the
last full week of November), Cultural Day (the last weekend in
February or the first in March), Ash Wednesday; Christmas and
Holy Week Services require extra attention as most of the school
community is off-campus; Confirmation, which is bi-annual, usually
held in odd-numbered years so as not to add a burden to the year
with Cultural Day.
Daily Mass attendance is optional, with activities coordinated
by the Sacristans and Sacristan; in recent years, the Jesuit Superior
ha assigned the Daily Mass schedule to priests. Recent years has
this scheduled for 8:15 a.m.
Sunday Mass attendance is required for all boys
on campus and is asked of all staff. Recent years has this schedule
for 5:15 p.m. Once monthly, usually the last Saturday of the month,
Xavier sponsors the Saturday Evening English Mass held at Nebukos/Holy
Family Parish at 6:15 p.m., with the boys supplying readers, servers,
and music. The Jesuit Superior has assigned the Sunday Mass schedule
to priests.
Nepukos Mass: Once a month, normally the last
Saturday, the school community sponsors the 6:00pm English Mass
at Holy Family Church in Nebukos. This is treated as an official
school activity and all faculty and students are expected to participate.
Members of the Xavier community lead the singing, do the readings
and petitions, and serve the Mass.
