Got a prayer request? Scecina Prayer Book is open to everyone
“For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”
– St. Thérèse of Lisieux (“The Little Flower”)
The Scecina Prayer Book sits in the rotunda, the main hub of the school, where students, staff, and visitors pass by several times a day.
Anyone can write their requests for prayers in the book.
Recently, the prayer book has chronicled new life of babies born to Scecina staff members, as well as sorrows, such as — in the past year — the suicide of a student and the serious illness of another.
There’s an entry for a young alumnus in the military as he was deployed to the Middle East. Priests and nuns with Scecina connections often are the focus of prayer requests.
One student sought prayers for victims of an earthquake in another part of the world. Another student prayer request was simply: “My grades!”
“The prayer book is a physical reminder of the many prayers that we all carry in our hearts,” said Margaret Zeh Fulford, a Catholic theology at Scecina for 17 years. “It is open to everyone and used as a weekly Mass intention.”
Ms. Fulford and A, along with a former campus ministry apprentice from Notre Dame, started the prayer book in 2013 in fulfilling part of the Scecina Memorial High School Strategic Growth Plan’s Catholic Culture goals. The prayer book now is firmly rooted as a Scecina institution that supports the school’s faith-based mission.
“A book has always been a powerful symbol. For many the physical action of writing something down can bring emotional relief,” said Ms. Fulford. “Many of our prayers are burdens that we carry, although we spiritually know that God can take those from us, in can be hard to physically feel it.
“For me, the book is the representation that I have let go of that intention to God and that it will be carried to him in the intentions of many.”
