St. Matthew the Apostle strengthens ‘family ties’ through thoughtful saints project

Lydia Dufresne (pictured above), the middle school theology teacher at St. Matthew the Apostle School in River Ridge, has launched a unique prayer initiative with her seventh graders called the “Archdiocesan Saints Project.”

For the endeavor, each seventh grader chose one of the 40 patron saints associated with the family of Catholic elementary and high schools in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Students researched their chosen saint, attributed a virtue to him or her and came up with three symbols representing their saint’s life.

Next, the seventh graders wrote biographies and created “stained-glass” style posters depicting their saint – but they didn’t stop there.
Dufresne used the posters to illustrate “Happy Feast Day!” greeting cards that her school will be mailing to every school in the archdiocese just prior to their feast day. The message inside the card tells recipients that St. Matthew’s entire student body will be praying for them on the feast day and asking for the saint’s intercession.

“Our hope is that this initiative will foster a greater sense of goodwill and community among our Catholic schools, as well as let each school know that they are being thought of and prayed for,” Dufresne said.

“January” feast day cards have already been sent to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School in Kenner and the four local schools under the patronage of Our Lady of Prompt Succor: Our Lady of Prompt Succor Schools in Chalmette and Westwego; Ursuline Academy; and Archbishop Chapelle. (Photos by Beth Donze, Clarion Herald)