Letter from the Headmaster

We placed our trust in one another and invested completely in the whole. We went all in.

With these concluding words, the authors of our feature article on Cistercian’s graduating class of 2023 (written for the first time by seniors themselves) encapsulate the experience in which each member eventually came to embrace the ancient maxim Carpe Deum. Their philosophy of living each moment to its fullest is exemplified in their many achievements— academic, athletic, and extracurricular— but most especially in the bonds of brotherhood they formed and now take with them to colleges across the country.

It is a lesson modeled by a similar brotherhood found among the Cistercian coaches featured in our second article. Rebounding from the pandemic and the cancellation of the spring and fall 2020 athletic seasons, the HAWKS have since claimed a variety of championships and set several personal bests. This is due in no small part to the tremendous experience and skill of our coaching staff, along with their contagious resilience and enthusiasm. Under new Athletic Director Jack Dorn ’05 and with a renovated lower gymnasium and new cross-country trail (also highlighted), the future is bright for Cistercian athletics.

Along with our traditional news articles and class notes, this issue also includes a touch of humor from alumnus and current teacher Patrick Spence ’08, who ponders how Pope Francis’s injunction for the shepherd to smell like the sheep is realized (perhaps too literally) at Cistercian.

Finally, on our back cover—a space long reserved for his unique spiritual wisdom— one will find a poignant rerun of a past column from our beloved Fr. Roch. As he remains sorely missed, we include a link to access all of his previous Continuum pieces. Fr. Roch was clearly a prime example of one who “invested completely in the whole” and “went all in.”