The Sacraments 

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us.” (Paragraph 1131) 
 
As a Catholic High School that is centered on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Sacraments are the lifeblood of our beloved school.  The Sacraments are the best and most perfect ways for us to encounter our merciful Savior and receive His sanctifying grace so that we can grow in holiness and discipleship.  Holiness is that intimacy with Jesus that is manifested by a life of love and virtue and so as a Catholic High School, we strive to help all our students grow in holiness. 
 
As a Christ-centered Catholic High School, the Sacraments are the most important activities we can participate in. 

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass  

Every day during the week at 7:30 AM, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated in our Chapel.  These daily, weekday Masses in the Chapel are open to all students, faculty, administration, staff, and outside guests.  There are no morning Chapel Masses on days when we have a School Mass or special circumstances such as a Football Team Mass in the afternoon.   
 
Moreover, we come together as a Golden Hawk family at least twice a month to celebrate a School Mass in the auditorium.  During the liturgical seasons of Advent and Lent, we celebrate a School Mass once a week.  Again, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, where the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ becomes truly, sacramentally present for us on the altar, is the most important activity we can participate in as a school community.   
 
Given the importance and sacredness of our School Masses, all students, faculty, and administration are expected to attend, even if they themselves are not Catholic.  This is out of respect for our school’s Catholic identity and mission. 

Eucharistic Adoration 

Every first Thursday and Friday of the month, we’re so blessed to have Eucharistic Adoration in our Chapel that is led by Live Vertical, which is an apostolate designed to help our high school students encounter Christ and grow in holiness and discipleship through prayer. 
 
We always encourage our students to prayerfully visit our Lord Jesus, truly present in the Most Holy Eucharist in the Chapel, which we consider to be the most important room in the school.  We strive to help our students learn how to pray and to be silent so that they can hear the loving voice of our Lord and grow in their personal relationship with Him.  As St. Padre Pio famously said, “Prayer is the oxygen of the soul.”  And so we want our students to have a strong and deep prayer life that unites them to our Lord.   

The Sacrament of Penance (aka The Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession) 

The Sacrament of Penance is a powerful Sacrament of Healing where we encounter our merciful Savior in the person of the priest and our Lord Jesus forgives our sins and gives us the grace to sin no more and grow in holiness.   

We are blessed to have school-wide Confessions three times a year: at the beginning of the academic year upon our return to school, during Advent in preparation for Christmas, and during Lent in preparation for Easter.  For these school-wide Confessions, we have many different priests from throughout the Bethlehem area come and help hear confessions for our students, faculty, staff, and administration.  Confessions are held either anonymously or face-to-face, depending on the personal preference of the penitent. 
 
Also, anonymous Confessions are offered every week in the Chapel, typically on Thursdays, during a certain block.  Usually the block changes every week to give the students an opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Penance without missing the same class.  We are so blessed to have a traditional confessional in the Chapel that enables us to have anonymous confessions, which most students prefer.    These weekly, anonymous confessions in the Chapel have proven to be very fruitful for our school! 

Lastly, students can always set up an appointment with the chaplain to go to confession at any time during the school day.