St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School Prays It Forward

 
Taking social media by storm, what started out as a simple post to pray for the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton school teachers, quickly gathered momentum as parishioners, parents, teachers and faculty repeatedly shared the prayer request on their personal social media accounts.

The social media post asked parents and parishioners to pick a teacher and pray diligently for 30 straight days starting with the first day of school on Aug. 6. But much like a secret Santa, the person praying does not let the teacher know that they are praying for them individually. Participants were asked to “have faith that God would move in the teacher’s lives.”

“This is the first year we have prayed like this for our teachers,” said Becky Delatte, school parent and substitute teacher. “It wasn’t an organized process, it was anonymous, and families were asked to pick a teacher or two that we thought needed prayers and then cover those teachers in prayers for 30 consecutive days.”

Delatte chose her children’s teachers (fourth grade, kindergarten and pre-K 2) and a faculty member to cover in prayer and said she and her family were happy to pray for these staff members and felt that everyone in the Catholic school community could use some of the holy spirit.

“Even though the teachers didn’t know who was praying for them individually, they definitely know that they are being prayed for collectively,” Delatte said. “They all seem to be very grateful for this gesture from our parish and school community.”

Teaching in general can be a tough job some days, and in today’s culture things can become even more difficult, with the additional pressures that Catholic teachers face from not only molding student’s minds, but also their souls as well, she added.

For the second year in a row, and in conjunction with the new prayer campaign, parents were invited to stop by the parish’s Adoration Chapel after dropping their child off to the first day of school to pray for the students, teachers and families during the upcoming school year.
“We had a tent set up in front of the chapel and welcomed parents with flowers to bring up to the altar and prayer cards with a parent’s prayer printed on the front,” Delatte said. “While in the chapel, we asked those in attendance to also pray for the children whose parents couldn’t join us and to help ease the back-to-school jitters of both students and parents.”

Delatte was so taken with praying for the teachers for 30 days, she hopes to extend the prayer petitions to cover the entire school year with the help of the Home and School Association.

“I think this was a great way to prayerfully start the school year,” she said. “I have felt a more joyful spirit on campus starting this school year.”