From the Principal: Knights-in-Training

Inspiration can emerge from all sorts of sources, many of them unexpected and unplanned, such as a friend’s casual observation on some matter which opens up a new direction in life or the way sunlight filters through a window at a certain time of the day that prompts a more commodious arrangement of furniture. As Christians, we do not believe in coincidence. Thus, we understand inspiration as God’s plan unfolding through what may sometimes appear to be random occurrences.

Inspiration, thus understood, may have been at work when Rev. Cyril Allwein, the School’s first principal, named Delone Catholic’s athletic teams the “Squires” and “Squirettes” to honor the donor of the School’s original building and the man for whom the School was named, Charles J. Delone, Esquire.

Although in modern-day America, “esquire” is used after a surname to denote a member of the legal profession, in the Middle Ages, “Esquire,” or the shortened form “Squire,” was a knight-in-training. Once a boy had finished his service as a page at about 14 years of age, he would take on the position of a squire to prepare for his own knighthood by serving as an attendant to a knight, maintaining his equipment, and carrying his armor, shield, and sword.

Looking back on the seemingly accidental choice of “Squire” for Delone Catholic’s athletic teams and mascot, it seems clear that it was inspired by the Lord. How else can one explain the choice of a term that so thoroughly captures the work of the Delone Catholic student? As fourteen-year-olds, our students come to us as spiritual knights-in-training to be prepared for the fight aheada fight that all human beings must endure. The Apostle Paul warns in Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

At this point, it is worth noting that a squire of the Middle Ages didn’t have to be taught what a battle was and when it was occurring. Unlike kinetic battles, however, spiritual battles are not so easy to identify. Thus the training of our Squires begins with an understanding of the adversary, Satan, and his weapons, including lies, temptation, and accusations, and that fear, anxiety, depression, apathy, and despair are all signs that a spiritual battle is being waged.

How do we prepare our Squires (and Squirettes) for this battle? Our knights-in-training must learn to put on, in St. Paul’s words, “the whole armor of God.” Like the squire of old whose job of maintaining his knight’s armor made him intimately familiar with it and thus ready to don the armor himself one day, our Squires must become intimately familiar with God’s armor so that when they wear it they will “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Eph 6:10)”.

As to what God’s armor is, fortunately, St. Paul lays it out in some specificity. Those entering the spiritual fight must: gird their waist with truth; put on the breastplate of righteousness; shoe their feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; take the shield of faith which will “quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one;” and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph 6:13-17).

To fully unpack all that St. Paul gives us in these few bible passages will take time and careful study by our Squires and Squirettes, but we believe it is a worthy pursuit and will offer great reward. Our goal, then, is to plant in all of their hearts the words of St. Paul: “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” Ephesians 6:13.

This edition of The Squire will introduce you to members of the Delone Catholic community who, in one way or another, embody the Spirit of a Squire. May their examples inspire us and our students to put on “the whole armor of God.”

With every good wish,

William J. Lippe P’25 Prinicpal