Portrait of a Graduate
Knows the Faith.
Our main goal is to lead souls to Christ and His Church. In order to do so, we should lead them to recognize Divine Revelation and the doctrine of the Magisterium. As students graduate from SJPGA, they will know what is to be believed, what is to be hoped for, and what is to be loved, so that they become a witness to the world.
Knows how to think.
We must teach our students, first of all, a solid and coherent knowledge of man, the world and God. Knowledge of reality from its causes will help them to complete their human formation and to sharpen their minds, to recognize error with a discerning spirit, so that they can love and serve the Truth. We want to give them the tools to think critically about reality.
Knows how to communicate Truth.
Our graduates will be encouraged in their time at the Academy to know how to speak well, write well as well as communicate the truth through their actions. Language, images and silence are expressive vehicles that allow us to communicate with others. Knowing how to communicate truth makes it possible to bring the Good News to others. In addition to interpreting language as the means that God himself gave us and used to make us understand the great truths of Revelation and thus come to the full knowledge of him who is the Word, the Word made man.
Knows how to make distinctions.
Distinctions help students discover what is permanent and essential from what is changing and circumstantial. Every year students will exercise this ‘muscle’ by studying history. Through the study of the past, students will gain the proper criteria to judge correctly the present and project for the future knowing the possible consequences. This study must be guided by the true values of freedom, of life, of the good, of the recognition of the natural law. After many years of practice, our graduates will be formed to reflect on the freedom and responsibility of man in history.
Loves their homeland.
We should lead them to know and love their homeland. Physical geography leads them to know God the Creator of inexhaustible beauty and the order of the universe, His divine Providence. Human geography should show them how man is a cooperator with the Creator.
Loves beauty in nature.
In the physical-chemical sciences and natural sciences, students should have an attitude of admiration, contemplation and respect, since the natural world, created by God, is the realm of reality given to man, to be discovered and known, prior to and independent of human action. Scientific research should develop their curiosity, which has as a substantial element the wonder, love and respect for life in all its dimensions.
They should seek contemplation and admiration for the order, beauty and wisdom that shine in creation; this admiration is one of the best introductions to prayer.
Seeks the truth.
In mathematics they will be helped to create the habit of the accuracy of time and the measures of things, demanding a kind of asceticism, because they must attend to reality, follow a method, humbly seek the answers, persevere in that search and long for precise and concise results. Rigorous study will foster a disciplined life which will guide the student in the desire to search for Truth, the value of accuracy, objectivity and fairness. We will seek to awaken in the soul, by the beauty of demonstrations, an awe-inspiring contemplation of the absolute.
Cultivates their potential.
Music elevates human feelings. Art is an expression of the higher powers of man, since art not only transmits sensitive harmonies but also the sense of the profound truths that come from within the soul. Bearing in mind that admiration for the beautiful is closely linked to the aspiration for the good, we must strive to form in our students a critical musical taste, that they may know and enjoy beautiful music, and that they may develop the musical gifts and talents with which God has blessed them. They should seek contemplation and admiration for the order, beauty and wisdom that shine in creation; this admiration is one of the best introductions to prayer.
Practices eutrapelia.
As for the theater, its purpose is to bring joy, to educate, and to instruct students morally. Therefore, theater must always be formative, a mirror of virtues, a school of morality. This aesthetic education should be reflected especially in the Liturgy, in the splendor of worship, music and the Church.
The soul, like the body, gets tired and must rest. The rest of the soul is enjoyment, and so this must be the remedy against the fatigue of the soul, which interrupts the tension of the spirit. Hence it is necessary to procure this refreshment of the soul by means of games and feasting, the moderation of which belongs to the virtue of Eutrapelia, practiced in moments of recreation.
Exercises the will.
Our body, called to be a temple of the Holy Spirit, must be cared for, respected and strengthened so that it may help in the realization of virtues. We must consider the body as an instrument of expression of what the spirit is capable of conceiving and transcending. The teacher will emphasize sports as an expression of the unity of the person who integrates with others in an ethical sporting coexistence, where the student must achieve habits of order, attitudes of respect, generosity, effort, perseverance to achieve goals, solidarity, justice, in every action of play and sport.
Educating the will means above all enriching the virtues, because only these make it truly strong and beautiful before God.