Story by Dominic Gideon ’14
Photos by Jack Cotton ’14
Last Friday Saint Ignatius celebrated our annual Mass of the Holy Spirit followed by the Fall sports rally.
As tradition goes, the Freshmen all walked together from school to the downtown cathedral while upperclassmen with cars struggled to get good parking. By 9 o’clock the ornate church was packed with students except for the front section of pews which was reserved for the freshman to ceremoniously process in along with the over 30 new faculty and staff.
After The freshmen were rounded up and put into lines and the mommarazzi got enough pictures, the mass was ready to begin.
Bishop Richard Lennon opened the mass emphasizing the meaning of the liturgy: to call upon the Holy Spirit for guidance and help throughout the year.
President Fr. Murphy preached the homily in which he told the freshmen “this is the high point of your welcome [at Ignatius],” and he urged them to jump in and be an active part of the school.
Proceeding an enthusiastic rendition of the school’s trademark closing song “Sing We Now to You, O Mary,” the mass ended and the students headed over the Cuyahoga to get to Ignatius and maybe get a bite to eat on the way.
After the students got to their homerooms, they then assembled again, this time for the rall, which Jack J. Hyland, the man in charge of the rally, planned to be somewhat different than previous years.
The first change was having the coaches only announce the names of the captains to make more time for other things, one of them being tug-of-war.
After all the coaches had their turns, President Mike Zupan ’14 handed the microphone to Tom Horan ’14 who introduced the teacher vs. freshmen tug-of-war. The teachers, proudly represented by Mr. Laco, Mr. Crew, and Mr. Peter Corrigan among others were taken down by the freshmen rather quickly greatly thanks to the 6’7″ freshman Malique Burton.
Horan then introduced a new team to Ignatius: the Alpha Cats, led by senior Jack J. Hyland. Dressed in flamboyant garb, the exuberant seniors ran around pumping up the crowd. Their purpose is to make the Ignatius fan experience as rowdy and exiting as possible. Jack J, while out of breath and losing his voice, still was able to teach the students some new chants.
Although there was some criticism of the rally, the overall impression was a very positive one. Senior Zach Novak liked the more interactive rally, “I though it was fantastic. One of the best rallies I’ve seen at Ignatius.”
