LETTER FROM THE HEADMASTER | Fr. Peter Verhalen '73

Spring brings signs of life renewed

The seeds of the School's enduring values continue to bear fruit

As you receive this issue of The Continuum, spring is arriving once again with its signs of new life.

On March 25, Fr. Ignatius Peacher was ordained. (An upcoming abbey newsletter will cover this important event.)

Also late in March, the School's cross country trail sprouted a Stations of the Cross path. We thank Dr. Pruit's Fourth Formers, who took on the project to prepare for their Confirmation.

And for the third year in a row, our group of young monks has produced a form master, who will lead the Class of '19) in the fall, days after being ordained.

One of Cistercian's great tasks now and in the future is to preserve and nurture our traditions, ensuring that new life springs up organically from the seeds planted years before.

Our features allude to that continuum.

Reporting on their reunion at Homecoming, David Stewart checks in with the Class of 1970, our first graduating class.

Members of this esteemed fraternity share vignettes of Cistercian's first years and comment on the great changes at the School. But they insist that Cistercian's founding values — including love and respect for their classmates and form master — remain the same.

In the second feature David shares the efforts of three alumni to improve the world. Tom Lewis '73, James McDermott '91, and Robbie Earle '05 have come to embrace compassion in inspiring ways. They are — as Smokey Briggs says in his column — walking in the shoes of others.

In both features, one can see the seeds of a Cistercian education bearing fruit.

I hope this issue of The Continuum tells you something new about Cistercian students – from the sixties to today – and that you celebrate the new life springing from this community.