Category: Spirit

Written by Anne-Sophie Gray

The House of Juana is named after Juana de Austria, a princess who demonstrated strong Jesuit identity. She completed St. Ignatius’s spiritual exercises and is the only woman to have taken Jesuit vows. The trait for our house is humility. Humility means being humble. When you show humility you do not brag or say that you are better than anyone else. Showing humility is important to me because it shows that you care for others, not just yourself. The students at Holy Trinity can show humility in a number of ways. An eighth grader might show humility by being a good sport even when they lose the spelling bee to a younger student. A first grader showing humility would look different. They might show humility by being calm and respectful to their classmates, instead of trying to steal their classmates’ attention.

Our house animal is a frog. We are the Juana frogs because frogs transform over time from a tadpole to a frog. This is similar to our founder’s transformation from a princess to a Jesuit. Frogs are often overlooked for their strengths because they are small. This makes them the perfect mascot for the humble Juana house! 

My favorite things about our house are two of the teachers in Juana, Ms.Nolan and Mr.Singleton. They are very fun and get everyone excited about our house.  They had great ideas for celebrating our house day. There were frogs hidden around the school, in all of the house colors. If students found the frog that matched their own house color, they house earned points. The school was covered with green decorations and students wore green with their uniforms. A member of the Juana house got to spin the points wheel to earn extra points for our house. It was a really great day!

House Day

Written by Stella Maloney

The House of Day was established in recognition of Dorothy Day. Day was an amazing Catholic role model, who advocated for the poor, women, and for peace. Constantly putting others’ needs before her own, she never quit. She was even arrested several times, and went even further to prove her point by going on a hunger strike after being arrested for protesting for women’s right to vote. The House of Day will be celebrated on November 7th and on this day the whole school will celebrate our house and Dorothy Day, regardless of what house they are in. The Bison is our house mascot, and it symbolizes gentleness along with stubbornness and determination. Just like the bison, Dorothy Day was extremely determined to spread her message to everyone around her and promote equality. But, while doing this she was still a gentle and kind person, making sure to give back to those in need. Gratitude is the quality of being thankful, and the House of Day’s main goal is to promote gratitude throughout Holy Trinity. There are many ways to show gratitude, whether it is doing service to show your thanks to the people around you, giving back the favor if someone does something kind for you, or just simply saying thank you. It is extremely important to me to always show my gratitude for my friends, family, teachers and classmates so that they know that everything they do for me never goes unnoticed. One of my favorite things about the new house system is that it brings the whole school together. By this I mean that many people, including me, only know a few people outside of their grade. But now many different grades are getting to know each other and we all have something to root for, a house. 

Works Cited

“Dorothy Day.” Biography, A&E Television Networks, 24 Sept. 2015, http://www.biography.com/writer/dorothy-day. Accessed 7 Sept. 2019.

Welcome to the 2019-2020 school year, Titans! This year is already shaping up to be a great one. Everyone is ready for a new, fresh start and excited for the new house system that Holy Trinity has implemented. Each student and staff member has now been sorted into one of six houses, inspired by great Catholic and Jesuit leaders from throughout history. Students have started earning points for their houses and are beginning to build bonds with their fellow house members. We can’t wait to see how this system grows over the year!

Our six houses are The Arrupe House, Becraft House, Day House, Juana House, Romero House and Xavier House. Below you will find a brief biography of each founder along with each house trait. In the coming weeks students from each house will share what it means to be a member of their house.

• Arrupe House-
  • Founder: Pedro Arrupe was a Spanish Jesuit Priest with a heart for refugees who served as the Superior General for the Jesuits in Japan. After the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, he cared for 150 sick and wounded Japanese. In 1980 he started the Jesuit refugee service, serving Vietnamese refugees. The organization has now served over 40 millions refugees from around the world.
  • Trait: Compassion
• Becraft House-
  • Founder: Anne Marie Becraft was a lifelong educator, teaching in Washington D.C. and Baltimore. At just 15 she started the Georgetown Seminary, a day and boarding school for young black girls in The District. She eventually left the school and when she was 26, became one of America’s first black nuns, joining the Oblate Sisters of Providence. Georgetown University recently named a building after Becraft.
  • Trait: Perseverance
• Day House-
  • Founder: Dorothy Day was a Catholic convert who felt God’s calling to serve the poor. She was the co-founder of the Catholic Work Movement, a radical but non-violent movement which provided service to the poor and homeless and took political action on their behalf.  Her canonization is currently being considered by the Church.
  • Trait: Gratitude
• Juana House-
  • Founder: Joanna of Austria is the first and only female member of the Society of Jesus. After the death of her husband she was expected to take Franciscan religious vows, but felt called to the Jesuit community instead. The Jesuits had never accepted females, but she persisted in her efforts and ended up taking Jesuit vows under a male name.
  • Trait: Humility
• Romero House-
  • Founder: Saint Oscar Romero was a social activist and Archbishop of San Salvador. He stood up for the poor and voiceless and passionately denounced the persecution of members of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. In 1980 he was assassinated while celebrating mass and was canonized in 2018.
  • Trait: Justice
• Xavier House-
  • Founder: Saint Francis Xavier was one of the first members of the Society of Jesus and was the first Jesuit missionary. He spent most of his life as a missionary in Japan and is credited with developing the early Jesuit mission approach. He was canonized in 1622.
  • Trait: Courage