By Patrick Downes | Hawaii Catholic Herald

They marched into Mystical Rose Oratory in double file, genuflected before the Blessed Sacrament exposed in a modern blue and gold monstrance, and then silently took their seats. The boys of Saint Louis school have been doing this every first Friday of the month for a year. Feb. 6 marked the anniversary.

Saint Louis students have been spending a monthly religion period in Eucharistic Adoration in response to Bishop Larry Silva’s call to implement the devotion in Catholic Schools across Hawaii.

On the anniversary day, at around 10:30 a.m., 85 middle and high school students left their backpacks outside along the curved glass doors of the circular chapel on the Saint Louis and Chaminade University campus to spend a half hour with the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

The school chaplain, Sacred Hearts Father Paul Zaccone, first incensed the monstrance and then opened the prayer session with a series of petitions.

For the 30 or so minutes that followed, periods of silence were interspersed with the Divine Mercy chaplet led by religion teachers strumming a guitar and ukulele and singing over and over, “For the sake of the sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and the whole world.”

The single gong of a small Buddhist-style temple bell opened each chaplet prayer.

With only minor shuffling, the boys mostly kept quiet during the singing, many with their eyes closed and head bowed.

Every one of the school’s more than 700 students spent their religion period taking part in an adoration session that day.

The practice started at the beginning of the 2008 academic school year. School staff, faculty, teachers and coaches are also encouraged to join the time of reflection in the presence of the Holy Eucharist.