Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament is an ancient devotion in the Catholic Church which underscores the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and affirms the central place occupied by the Eucharist in the life of the Church. At LJC, students visit the Blessed Sacrament Chapel regularly to adore the Lord and seek His blessings. In addition to the regular visit of the Blessed Sacrament by students, there is monthly celebration of Benediction at the College which affords students and members of Staff the opportunity to reverence, praise, and bless God. This takes place on a Sunday by 6:00 p.m. in the Chapel of the Good Samaritan
As the mother of Christ, who is both God and Man, Mary is a very important figure in the Catholic tradition and devotions to her are as ancient as the Church whose mother she is. At LJC, devotions to Mary are rife as she exemplifies the Motto of the College: Service of God and Others, thereby being the model for us as a College Community in our quest to be men and women for and with others. The several devotions to Mary observed in the College include: May and October devotions which students observe by praying a decade of the Rosary during Morning Prayers; Saturday liturgical devotion which we observe by celebrating Mass on Saturdays in honour of the memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The celebration is omitted if the Saturday happens to be a Solemnity, Feast or Memorial; Liturgical devotions which we observe by celebrating designated Solemnities, Feasts, and Memorials of the Blessed Virgin Mary both of the Universal Church and of the Society of Jesus.
This is a Lenten devotion in the Catholic tradition which enables the faithful to enter deeply into mystery of the Lord’s passion and death and so to appreciate the depth of His love and sacrifice. Made up of Fourteen Stations, this prayerful devotion allows us to recall and reflect on the sufferings which Christ Jesus endured for the salvation of humankind, from the praetorium of Pilate, where he was condemned to death, to mount Calvary, where he died on the Cross
This devotion takes place on Fridays during Lent by 5:00 p.m., and enjoys the conscientious participation of staff and students. It is noteworthy that the portraits of the Stations of the Cross that adorn the Chapel of the College are the handiwork of our students.
Under normal circumstances, the Stations of the Cross is enacted on Good Friday by our finalists who celebrate the Easter Triduum in school due to ongoing National and Regional Examinations.
Praying for the dead is part and parcel of the Catholic faith tradition which begins at the moment of death, when family members are gathered around the bedside of the person who has died, and continues in the celebration of the funeral liturgy, when the Church gathers with the family and friends of the deceased to commend the deceased to God’s tender mercy and compassion, and way beyond the funeral liturgy, when the Church honours the memory of the dead and offers prayers in suffrage for them in the sacrifice of the Holy Mass.
In the faith tradition, the month of November is designated for this spiritual work of mercy beginning with the celebration of All Souls on November 2. As a College Community, we pray for those we have known whom have died that they may attain the beatific vision of God. We do so by placing the names of the deceased in a decorated pot situated on the sanctuary which the priest references when praying for the dead during the Eucharist prayer of the Holy Mass. At the end of November, a Mass of the deceased is celebrated and the names in the pot are burnt thereafter in the presence of all the faithful.