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| Evening Prayer |
Holidays are often considered a time when we can get an extra day to enjoy family and friends while celebrating a particular event. Not so for the boys of this residential school. Holidays meant that they worked throughout the entire day while the Jesuit priests received a day off from teaching. Held on Thursdays, the boys dedicated their time to tending to the school inside and out. New and hard-headed boys were appointed to cleaning the bathrooms, a punishment meant to break them down. The most sought after jobs were kitchen cooks and cleaner of the priest's refectory (a dining hall in a religious home). The promise of leftover food made these jobs worth the early morning wake-up. The longer the stay coincided with good behavior meant that students were able to work their way up into such jobs.
Thursday nights were dedicated to confession where boys learned to use the magic number three to ease the amount of shame and prayer handed out. A confession like, "I swore three times and lied three times." usually meant one Hail Mary, one Glory Be, and one Our Father. Sunday mass was a completely different story. This was the only time during the week where they were able to see girls. The girls who attended mass were the boys’ age and, for some, their own sisters. Instead of being pious, the author found himself taking nervous glances at the girls to satisfy his curiosity and feed his envy. The envy came from a rumor that the girls were fed better and the evidence was made clear by their noticeable chubby faces. While taking cautious glances at the girls the boys created nicknames for them. There was Haircut (her hair was shaved for hygiene upkeep), Up-Shoot (her nose was slightly turned up), and Farmer's Hat (a girl who wore a straw hat with a pink bow).
Thursday nights were dedicated to confession where boys learned to use the magic number three to ease the amount of shame and prayer handed out. A confession like, "I swore three times and lied three times." usually meant one Hail Mary, one Glory Be, and one Our Father. Sunday mass was a completely different story. This was the only time during the week where they were able to see girls. The girls who attended mass were the boys’ age and, for some, their own sisters. Instead of being pious, the author found himself taking nervous glances at the girls to satisfy his curiosity and feed his envy. The envy came from a rumor that the girls were fed better and the evidence was made clear by their noticeable chubby faces. While taking cautious glances at the girls the boys created nicknames for them. There was Haircut (her hair was shaved for hygiene upkeep), Up-Shoot (her nose was slightly turned up), and Farmer's Hat (a girl who wore a straw hat with a pink bow).
http://www.hiddenfromhistory.org/historyfiles/audio/Virginia_Baptiste.mp3Sunday afternoon meant baseball, softball or hockey depending the season and the weather. Regardless, of some of the happier times at school the author states, "Our sole aspiration was to be rescued or released from Spanish, and to be restored to our families and homes." These aspirations were quickly erased by the priests who reminded them daily that this would not occur until they were 16 and free to go on their own will. So wait they did.
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