Spiritual Life

God Loves Everyone

As a Catholic school in the Benedictine tradition, God is at the center of all we do.

Our spiritual life program is designed to help students encounter God and to find meaning and purpose in their own lives. Catholic means universal and students from all backgrounds and faith traditions, as well as those who have no faith traditions are equally welcome.

The value of a Catholic education lies not in what it teaches, but in how it educates. Each of us is called to use our talents, our gifts and abilities in service to God, our fellow man and the common good. This is the time to learn what it means to be human. To think critically and grow spiritually without judgement.

The monastic community at Portsmouth Abbey adds depth and vitality to the spiritual life of the School and students benefit from interactions with the Monks in their daily life. Being Catholic is not just about Theology class and Sunday Mass. The most powerful testament to the School’s faith is how students and faculty of the Abbey live in community with one another.

Lectio Divina and Manquehue
Lectio Divina, or “Divine Reading,” refers to the monastic practice of reading the Bible. Unlike Bible studies which focus on analysis and study, in lectio, the person takes a more receptive disposition to God’s word. To put it differently, in lectio, we let God speak to us.  Here at the Abbey, we are blessed to be associated with the Manquehue Apostolic Movement in Chile, an officially recognized “Private Association of Lay Faithful” whose aim is to promote the Benedictine tradition of lectio divina. Our lectio groups are student-led and meet by house. Students gather to meditate on the Sunday scriptures, share prayer intentions, and grow in friendship and joy.

Lectio Divina and Manquehue

Lectio Divina, or “Divine Reading,” refers to the monastic practice of reading the Bible. Unlike Bible studies which focus on analysis and study, in lectio, the person takes a more receptive disposition to God’s word. To put it differently, in lectio, we let God speak to us. 

Here at the Abbey, we are blessed to be associated with the Manquehue Apostolic Movement in Chile, an officially recognized “Private Association of Lay Faithful” whose aim is to promote the Benedictine tradition of lectio divina. Our lectio groups are student-led and meet by house. Students gather to meditate on the Sunday scriptures, share prayer intentions, and grow in friendship and joy. 

Church Assembly
Church Assembly is an important part of the student experience both intellectually and spiritually. As part of this program students and faculty gather to listen and learn from scriptures, sing and pray together. Students also develop their writing and public speaking skills by delivering speeches on topics important to them.

Schola
Schola is both a course and a vocal ensemble. It supports the spiritual life of the community by providing music for School liturgy. It also fulfills the Theology requirement for Form VI. The principal work of Schola is to learn and prepare music and to sing that music at School (liturgical) events. Schola is collaborative, musical, spiritual, reflective, creative, and enjoyable. Students entering their VI form may audition for Schola at the end of their Form V school year.

Schola

Schola is both a course and a vocal ensemble. It supports the spiritual life of the community by providing music for School liturgy. It also fulfills the Theology requirement for Form VI. The principal work of Schola is to learn and prepare music and to sing that music at School (liturgical) events. Schola is collaborative, musical, spiritual, reflective, creative, and enjoyable. Students entering their VI form may audition for Schola at the end of their Form V school year.

Spiritual Life Committee
Spiritual Life Committee is a wonderful way for students to have a voice in the spiritual life of the community. This committee plans activities, retreats and events relevant to the Abbey’s faith community.

Student Retreats
Student Retreats help recharge and recalibrate. Offered at various times of the year, the retreats center on both the sacraments and on topics related to faith and reason in today’s world.

Sacramental Life AND Why We go to Mass
When we go to Mass, we are acknowledging the importance of God in our lives. It is a time to reflect and be thankful for the blessings bestowed on us. It is also a time when we can ask God for help in all the things that happen in our lives and view the world around us through the lens of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. On Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, students and faculty gather in the Church to pray and contemplate the one ineffable mystery: the Eucharist. At School Masses, students serve as lectors, singers, gift-bearers, and altar servers. Throughout the year, the monks offer House Masses as well. The more intimate setting of House Masses serves as a reminder that “God comes to us,” right here in our “school home.”  Confessions are heard weekly, with a schoolwide reconciliation service held every term. Eucharistic Adoration is offered in the Church regularly.

Sacramental Life AND Why We go to Mass

When we go to Mass, we are acknowledging the importance of God in our lives. It is a time to reflect and be thankful for the blessings bestowed on us. It is also a time when we can ask God for help in all the things that happen in our lives and view the world around us through the lens of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

On Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, students and faculty gather in the Church to pray and contemplate the one ineffable mystery: the Eucharist. At School Masses, students serve as lectors, singers, gift-bearers, and altar servers. Throughout the year, the monks offer House Masses as well. The more intimate setting of House Masses serves as a reminder that “God comes to us,” right here in our “school home.” 

Confessions are heard weekly, with a schoolwide reconciliation service held every term. Eucharistic Adoration is offered in the Church regularly. 

RCIA and Confirmation Program
The Abbey offers RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) and Confirmation classes. Students sign up at the beginning of the year and meet weekly to prepare for baptism, first communion, and/or confirmation. Students who receive all sacraments of initiation do so at the Easter Vigil. In May, there is a separate Mass for those only receiving confirmation.

The Lourdes Pilgrimage
Each year, Abbey students are in the privileged position to have the opportunity to travel to Lourdes, France, to volunteer in helping the Assisted Pilgrims (AP), or malades, who seek healing to fully benefit from their time in this historic and holy place. The volunteer activities at Lourdes change, and so the experience is a very individual one, varying from year to year and person to person. Students help the pilgrims with personal care as well as join them for ice cream and coffee in the cafes after Masses and Torchlight Processions. Previous groups have visited the baths from the spring in the Grotto de Massabielle in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes. There are also opportunities for students to meet and develop relationships with the Sacred Heart (CT) and Ampleforth Abbey (UK) students who also volunteer. The students also have the chance to savor the day-to-day life of the town and enjoy their own spiritual retreat.

The Lourdes Pilgrimage

Each year, Abbey students are in the privileged position to have the opportunity to travel to Lourdes, France, to volunteer in helping the Assisted Pilgrims (AP), or malades, who seek healing to fully benefit from their time in this historic and holy place. The volunteer activities at Lourdes change, and so the experience is a very individual one, varying from year to year and person to person.

Students help the pilgrims with personal care as well as join them for ice cream and coffee in the cafes after Masses and Torchlight Processions. Previous groups have visited the baths from the spring in the Grotto de Massabielle in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes. There are also opportunities for students to meet and develop relationships with the Sacred Heart (CT) and Ampleforth Abbey (UK) students who also volunteer. The students also have the chance to savor the day-to-day life of the town and enjoy their own spiritual retreat.

The Grotto and Candlelight Processions
The School has a Marian grotto, modeled on the grotto of Lourdes, that provides a focal point of prayer within the Abbey community. Dedicated in 2012 as the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, it has also served as the point of origin for candlelight processions that accentuate the beautiful surroundings of the campus. Through the generosity of a Portsmouth Abbey graduate who had spent considerable time in Lourdes, France, the outdoor shrine honoring the Virgin Mary was constructed using massive stones—some weighing as much as 11,000 to 12,000 pounds, harvested from fields on School property. The statue of the Virgin Mary, enshrined inside the Grotto, was made from Carrara marble and was specially sculpted in Italy for the Grotto.  A candle rack for devotional candles, marked with the same Cross Moline that is over the front door of the Church of St. Gregory the Great, was fabricated and donated by Billy Mac and Mac Marine of Tiverton. The large granite bench placed in front of the Grotto is repurposed from an estate in Newport. "The statue of the Blessed Virgin enshrined at the Grotto also reminds us that, since 1947, the monastery has been dedicated to her under the title of “Our Lady of Peace.” Each year since its dedication the School gathers at the Grotto to begin a candlelit procession to the Church of St. Gregory the Great.  The procession symbolizes the journey of faith, as it was through Mary’s obedient faith in the word of God spoken to her by the angel that Jesus, the very object of our faith, came into the world.

The Grotto and Candlelight Processions

The School has a Marian grotto, modeled on the grotto of Lourdes, that provides a focal point of prayer within the Abbey community. Dedicated in 2012 as the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, it has also served as the point of origin for candlelight processions that accentuate the beautiful surroundings of the campus.

Through the generosity of a Portsmouth Abbey graduate who had spent considerable time in Lourdes, France, the outdoor shrine honoring the Virgin Mary was constructed using massive stones—some weighing as much as 11,000 to 12,000 pounds, harvested from fields on School property. The statue of the Virgin Mary, enshrined inside the Grotto, was made from Carrara marble and was specially sculpted in Italy for the Grotto.  A candle rack for devotional candles, marked with the same Cross Moline that is over the front door of the Church of St. Gregory the Great, was fabricated and donated by Billy Mac and Mac Marine of Tiverton. The large granite bench placed in front of the Grotto is repurposed from an estate in Newport.

"The statue of the Blessed Virgin enshrined at the Grotto also reminds us that, since 1947, the monastery has been dedicated to her under the title of “Our Lady of Peace.”

Each year since its dedication the School gathers at the Grotto to begin a candlelit procession to the Church of St. Gregory the Great.  The procession symbolizes the journey of faith, as it was through Mary’s obedient faith in the word of God spoken to her by the angel that Jesus, the very object of our faith, came into the world.

Spiritual Life

God Loves Everyone

Spiritual Life