Students Perform at Christmas Pageant: A Beloved Villa Tradition

On December 15, the Eighth grade girls, Choir, Handbells and Tonechimes performed a beautiful retelling of the Christmas story at the Christmas Pageant in Sacred Heart Chapel, a beloved tradition at Villa Maria Academy. The Pageant focused on the Alphonsian tradition of the Court of the Infant King. Saint Alphonsus developed a spirituality that focused on four themes: the Christmas crib, the cross of Calvary, the Blessed Sacrament, and Mary, the Mother of God. Alphonsus tried to reduce lofty truths of salvation into simple practices that would appeal to ordinary people. The custom of Serving in the Court of the Infant King is one example. The Christmas practice of Drawing the Courts of the Infant King assigns participants to a particular role in the court of the King of Heaven and suggests a practice that is appropriate to the specific role in the court. Following the afternoon performance of the Pageant,  students, faculty and staff to choose a Court of the King to pray to in the New Year. Throughout Advent, the students learned about the specific roles of the courts of the Infant King so that the Christmas Pageant would be a prayerful celebration of this Alphonsian tradition.

Thanks all who helped in the planning and organization of this special Villa tradition. And a special thanks to Mrs. A, Mrs. Fox, Miss Barba, Sister Margaret, Miss Connors, Sister Marjorie, Sister Susan, Sister Patricia, the Gosselin family for letting their littlest angel be Baby Jesus, and all the Villa teachers and families for their support, and our volunteers who assisted the students with getting ready for the performance.