Dear Friends,

I have some wonderful news to share with you – an occasion of profound joy for our entire community!

On the morning of January 31^st, the feast of St. John Bosco, a student of St. Andrew’s Academy was received into the Catholic Church – Emory David Grider was Baptized and received his First Communion. As the ceremony concluded, the chapel resounded with the Ambrosian hymn of thanksgiving, the Te Deum, followed by the Je Vous Salu, a beautiful French hymn to Our Lady sung in gratitude and joy.

To honor and celebrate the occasion, classes were canceled, and the boys and teachers spent the day in competitions of strength, agility, and skill – beginning with a glorious, prayerful, and penitential plunge into the frozen pond! When evening came, we gathered around a feast of epic proportions prepared by our stalwart chef, and all the faculty and students raised toasts to Emory, and his entrance into the Catholic Church.

Emory holds a special place in the history of Saint Andrew’s – he was the first young man to be accepted to the Academy. I remember the conversation I had with his mother in March of 2023, when she explained that her son was not a Catholic and asked if he might still be allowed to attend. She assured me that he was willing, and even eager, to participate in all the religious aspects of the life of the Academy.

I was excited at the prospect of having a non-Catholic as a member of our first class – for the other boys to have a friend who would be experiencing the richness of Catholicism for the first time and turning to them with questions that would prompt them to ponder and engage more deeply with their Faith. More importantly I was struck by the reality that God had specifically chosen St. Andrew’s to play some part in the Divine plan of salvation for Emory – whatever that might be.

Over the last year and a half, Emory fell in love with the Catholic Faith that permeates and vivifies the entirety of life here at St. Andrew’s. He learned to pray the Rosary and chanted Compline. He attended the Traditional Mass, and studied the truths of the Faith in Religion class. He formed deep friendships, memorized folk music and poetry, tended animals, and cultivated manual skills in the trades. All these things proved to be fertile soil for the grace of conversion to germinate, take root, and bear fruit.

Saint Andrew is referred to as the Protoclete, a Greek word meaning “first-called,” for he was the first called to follow Christ as an Apostle. It is beautifully symbolic that the first young man called to Saint Andrew’s, is the first of our students to respond to the grace of conversion.

It is significant that Emory entered the Church on the Feast of St. John Bosco, the great apostle of Catholic education who spent his life working for the salvation of youth.  Emory’s class also chose St. Dominic Savio, a student of St. John Bosco, as their patron. No doubt both these saints played an intercessory role in Emory’s conversion!

The Church tells us that Christ would have suffered His Passion and Death to redeem a single soul, such is the depth of His Divine love for each person. This must be our disposition as well. God has blessed Saint Andrew’s by choosing the Academy as an instrument in Emory’s conversion, and this grace is well worth all the prayers, efforts, struggles and sacrifices that accompany our apostolic work.

On behalf of Emory, and all the faculty and students of Saint Andrew’s Academy, please accept my sincere and heartfelt gratitude. Your prayers, sacrifices, and support have all played their part in bringing about this glorious and tremendous moment.

May God bless you abundantly.

Pax Christi!

Ben Strong