SPIRITUAL LIFE

At Mount Edmund we would like to present ourselves as a light shining in the darkness of the world around us.

For those parents who still value God and religion, and who would like to instill these same values in their children, they can do no better than to send them to Mount Edmund. Our present government, in the name of freedom and democracy, has seen fit to eliminate or at least marginalize religious education in government schools; but here God, religion, and worship are still very much at the heart of our very being. This indeed is light for those who know the importance of these values.

At Mount Edmund we are serious about safe-guarding our own religious ethos. The very fact that the school is prepared to employ a full time chaplain is enough testimony of the school's vision in this regard; and the fact that the Church is prepared to make a full time chaplain available to the school at a time when there is a severe shortage of priests in this country bears testimony to the fact that the Church too acknowledges the important role that the school plays in being a leaven of religion to South African society.

Prayer forms a regular part of school line-ups and assemblies. Holy Mass is celebrated with the school as a whole on first Fridays and other special holy days. Every important event, like the induction of school prefects or farewell valedictory to the matrics, is done in the context of the Mass or other forms of prayer.

A full time, dedicated, and highly competent team of teachers is employed by the school for nothing other than religious education, right through from grade 0 to 12. Intensive preparation for the Sacraments of First Holy Communion and Confirmation is offered by the school. Training and installation of assistant Ministers of the Eucharist and altar servers take place here. And the highest moral standards are insisted upon by the executive body of this school. All these is just the tip of the ice-berg in demonstrating how ardently we are committed to promoting the Christian ethos.

This school, however, is not only a light for those who explicitly value religion. We also indirectly offer hope and light to our country at large. With religious decline comes moral decay; and with moral decay comes anarchy and social disturbance of every kind. We are already experiencing the obvious fruits of godlessness in South Africa with the upsurge of crime, violence, rape, sexually transmitted diseases, legal abortion on demand, pornography, prostitution, drug abuse and child abuse. By keeping the flame of faith alive in the students who are privileged to attend this school we are doing more than a fair bit to combat the social ills of our country as a whole.

It may be just a small candle of hope that we ignite here at C.B.C., but even the smallest of candles can be quite effective in shattering the effect of the darkness. In any case, we remind ourselves that it is infinitely better to light a single lamp than to stand back and curse the darkness. 
FATHER P. SWITALA