Saint Louis Priory School

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Saint Louis Priory School
'Laus Tibi Domine (Latin: "Praise to Thee, Lord")

School type	Private Roman Catholic
Established	1955
Faculty	60
Students	approx. 400 7th-12th
Colors Mascot	Red, Blue Rebels
Location	Creve Coeur, MO, USA
Website	http://www.priory.org

The Saint Louis Priory School, a Roman Catholic secondary day school for boys, is located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. The school was established in 1955, at the invitation of prominent St. Louis Catholics, by monks of the Benedictine Ampleforth Abbey in York, England. The corresponding Priory of Saints Louis and Mary (now Saint Louis Abbey), a Benedictine monastery, was established at the same time. The Priory, which is a member of the English Benedictine Congregation, became independent of Ampleforth in 1973, and was elevated to an Abbey in 1989.

The founding Prior (1955-1967) was the noted author, monastic leader and former titular Abbot of Westminster Reverend Columba Cary-Elwes.

Enrolling over 300 boys in grades seven through twelve, the Priory School offers a rigorous education shaped by the ancient Benedictine tradition's Christian humanism, with particular attention to Roman Catholic theology, classical and modern foreign languages, English and American literature, mathematics and the natural sciences, history, computer science, and the fine arts. Its graduates attend highly competitive colleges throughout the United States and Canada.

The school has several distinctive features not found at many other high schools. Students must complete a research thesis, a work of creative writing, or a project in the visual or performing arts, as well as participate in community service, to graduate. The school is renowned for its contributions to the ancient art of calligraphy, and students may, after applying, join a guild and attain the title of "Master Calligrapher." Students also can undertake projects in the pre-Medieval art of stained glass.

The founding headmaster was scholar and author Rev. Timothy Horner, O.S.B. Fr. Timothy also founded the Kwai Nyu Rugby Club. He was succeeded by Rev. Paul Kidner, O.S.B., who arrived shortly after the founding. He was in turn succeeded by Rev. Finbarr Dowling, O.S.B. Before being elected to serve as Abbot of the Saint Louis Abbey, former Rhodes Scholar and university professor, Fr. Thomas Frerking, O.S.B. guided the school in the mid 1990s.

Rev. Gregory Mohrman, O.S.B., Class of 1976, the first alumnus to join the monastery, became headmaster in 1995, and held the position for ten years. He was replaced by Rev. Michael Brunner, O.S.B., the school's former assistant headmaster. The Rev. Gregory is now the Prior of the monastery.

1 Sports and Mascot
2 The Abbey Church
3 Literary Highlight
4 Notable alumni
5 Sports Titles
6 All-American Athletes
7 External links

[edit] Sports and Mascot

The school's sports mascot is the Rebels. "The Rebels" comes from the name of the school's first athletic team, The Rebel Ruggers. A version of the Confederate Johnny Rebel figure was featured in the school's sports iconography, and a Confederate flag was flown outside the school for a short time, until it was taken down due to controversy surrounding the symbolic meaning of the flag. (During the U.S. Civil War, Missouri had a pro-Union government, Saint Louis was a predominantly Union city, and most Roman Catholics in Missouri during the Civil War were pro-Union.) The jersey colors are red, white, and blue. The varsity tennis team, coached by Fr. Ralph Wright, O.S.B. since 1971, is called "The Kestrels," but the official name of the team is still the Rebels. In late 2006, it was rumoured that the mascot was going to be changed to either "The Ravens" or "The Kestrels," due to more adversity to the name "Rebels." There is also speculation that the change will occur after the Class of 2008 graduates.

Priory is a member of the suburban ABC League. Other members include John Burroughs School, Lutheran North High School, Lutheran South High School, Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School, Principia High School, and Westminster Christian Academy.

In the winter of 2004, the hockey Rebels received a bid to play in the Wickenheiser Cup, a memorial tournament named for the late St. Louis Blues defenseman Doug Wickenheiser. During their playoff run, they defeated Francis Howell, the highest ranked small school hockey team in Missouri, to advance to the final game against Fox High School. The game, played at the Scottrade Center (formerly Savvis Center and home to the St. Louis Blues), was a classic and a breakthrough for Priory athletics. Sophomore Mike Croghan, who was among the state leaders in points, scored four goals, including the game winner. This was Priory's first state sports title since 1973. In the fall of 2005, the Priory varsity soccer team became the first in this sport in Missouri's high school sports history, and the first since state titles were officially sanctioned by the Missouri State High School Athletics Association, to compete for a full season with no losses or ties. Led by All-American Jimmy Holmes, who scored 43 goals en-route to the best metro-player award, the soccer Rebels ended the season with a perfect 26-0 record, winning the state Class 2 title.

On February 26, 2007, the hockey Rebels won the Wickenheiser Cup for the second time, defeating Whitfield High School 4-3, after a third period comeback. The comeback was led by sophomore and game MVP Christian Herbosa, who scored all three of the Rebels comeback goals.

[edit] The Abbey Church

One of the school's major distinctions is the award-winning Abbey Church (1962), also known as the Church of St. Mary and St. Louis and the Priory Chapel. It was designed by Gyo Obata of Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum, with the famous Italian architect and engineer Pier Luigi Nervi serving as consultant. The Abbey Church was an important landmark and name-making project for HOK, now the world's largest architectural practice (according to the 2006 edition of the BD World Architecture 200). The church's circular facade consists of three tiers of whitewashed, thin-poured concrete parabolic arches, the top one forming a bell-tower; the arches appear to float upwards from their grassy base. They are faced with dark insulated-fiberglass polyester window walls which create a meditative translucency when viewed from within. The church also contains a 14th century sculpture of the Madonna and Christ child, a 17th century holy font in the Della Robbia style, and more modern sacred art by artists from the United States, Great Britain, Spain, and France. On the grounds outside the church sit life-size sculptures of the abbey's patron saints, Saint Benedict, by Lithuanian-born artist Wiktor Szostalo, and the Holy Blessed Virgin Mother Mary, Our Lady of Grace, by American Philip Howie. The Abbey Church also serves as the home church for the Saint Louis Archdiocese parish of Saint Anselm's.

[edit] Literary Highlight

The history of the monastery and school was chronicled by founding monk and original headmaster Fr. Timothy Horner, O.S.B. in his In Good Soil: The Founding of the Saint Louis Priory School 1954-1973 (2001). In this historical yet often jovial work, written in his characteristically brilliant and dry style, Fr. Horner described the initial contact with the interested St. Louis Catholic laymen, and brought readers through the difficult but in his mind ultimately rewarding process of founding a new school in the English Benedictine Congregation.

[edit] Notable alumni

Kevin Kline (1965), Academy Award-winning actor
Thomas Schlafly (1966), founder of Saint Louis Brewery (creators of Schlafly beer) and attorney
David Linzee (1970), author of mystery books
Eddy L. Harris (1974), travel book author (books include Mississippi Solo, Native Stranger, South of Haunted Dreams, and Still Life in Harlem)
Fr. Gregory Mohrman (1976), Former Headmaster of the School, current Prior
Emmett McAuliffe (1976), KMOX radio host and entertainment lawyer
Andrew Schlafly (1978), Attorney, son of conservative author and activist Phyllis Schlafly, and co-founder of Conservapedia
Bill Bidwill, Jr. (1981), Vice-President, Arizona Cardinals NFL football team
Andrew Busch (1981), Anheuser-Busch heir and formerly the top-rated amateur polo player in the US
Michael Goessling (1985), miniature horse handler and breeder, owner of Thumbelina, the world's smallest horse
Ned Cramer (1989), Editor-in-chief, Architect Magazine, former Executive Editor, Architecture, former curator, Chicago Architecture Foundation
Dave Holmes (1989), MTV VJ and reality TV show host
Tim Convy (1998), keyboardist for rock group Ludo
Christopher T. Kuhn (1998), Financial Advisor Merrill Lynch
Benjamin R. Noll (2000), National Football League offensive lineman, Detroit Lions

[edit] Sports Titles

Missouri State High School Athletic Association (MSHSAA) Titles: Football - 1973; Cross Country - 2004; Hockey (Wickenheiser Cup) - 2004, 2007; Soccer - 2005.