Mission

Campus Ministry

Campus Ministry is an integral part of the Magnificat High School experience, offering programs in service, liturgy and prayer, retreats, and social justice. By supporting students in their holistic growth and by engaging them in learning, leadership, and service within and outside the walls of Magnificat, Campus Ministry offers student opportunities to grow in their faith and respond to the call to live Mary's Magnificat in the world.

Campus Ministry Team

The Campus Ministry team ministers to students in a variety of ways and settings, supporting them in times of struggle and celebrating with them in times of joy. Through mentoring relationships, the Campus Ministry team walks with students on their faith journeys and encourages their growth as young women of faith, service, and leadership.

Jonathan Hesford
Director of Campus Ministry
jhesford@maghs.org

Regina Sullivan
Campus Minister
rsullivan@maghs.org

Service

Through participation in the Campus Ministry service programs, Magnificat students answer the call to live Mary’s Magnificat in the world. Students are encouraged to participate in a variety of service opportunities. An important component of these programs includes ongoing prayer and reflection that invites the students to connect their service experience with their faith in ever-deeper ways. By extending themselves in humility, compassion, and love, students directly experience the profound truth that in giving we receive. Service opportunities through Campus Ministry include tutoring at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School and providing companionship to the elderly at Eliza Jennings’ Nursing Home in Cleveland.

Retreats

Retreats provide sacred time for stepping away from the busy pace of students’ daily lives to reflect on God’s presence with them in all things. Retreats also give students the opportunity to build a strong sense of community and belonging among classmates. Magnificat’s retreat program meets the spiritual and personal needs of our students as they grow and mature during their time in high school by offering a variety of retreat formats.

List of 4 items.

  • Freshman Heritage Day

    As a class, the freshmen travel to Villa Maria, Pennsylvania to spend the day at the Community Center of the Sisters of the Humility of Mary, founders and sponsors of Magnificat High School. This "Heritage Day" provides the freshmen with an opportunity to learn about the history and identity of the school and the Sisters of the Humility of Mary, while building community and friendship among classmates.

  • Sophomore Retreat

    Students spend a day of reflection and prayer together off-campus, contemplating the call to serve articulated in the Gospel and Catholic Social Teaching. Students have the opportunity to reflect upon their Sophomore Service experience and deepen their commitment to be young women who “serve in the spirit of Mary’s Magnificat.”

  • Junior and Senior Year

    During junior and senior year, students choose from a variety of smaller, more personal retreats. Students are required to make one Magnificat sponsored retreat in either their junior or senior year and are invited to make one retreat each semester if they so choose. Retreat opportunities for juniors and seniors include art, wellness, nature, and Kairos.

  • Summer Immersion Retreats

    In the second semester of their junior year, students are invited to apply to participate in a summer immersion retreat. This past summer, Magnificat offered immersion experiences to Cleveland, Ohio, the U.S. / Mexico Border, and Guayaquil, Ecuador. These retreats challenge students to immerse themselves in the complexities of injustice and poverty and to recognize God's presence in the midst of such realities, both in the people they meet and in one another. The summer immersion retreats involve a commitment for student participants that begins upon their selection and continues through the following summer and their senior year. Ongoing processing and reflection are a critical part of the immersion retreat as students strive to integrate their experience into their daily lives in meaningful and lasting ways.

Social Justice

Guided by the Gospel and Catholic Social Teaching’s call to love one another and participate in the Reign of God, Campus Ministry has several student led initiatives to raise awareness and follow up with social action to address local, national and global justice issues. The school community also strives to grow in awareness about the needs of others in our local, national and global community and respond with compassion and generosity through outreach projects organized annually in Advent and Lent.

For more information about Catholic Social Teaching, we invite you to visit the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops website.

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  • Fair Trade Club

    The Fair Trade Club is a student led group focused on organizing the school community around Fair Trade initiatives. Fair Trade is a form of trade that focuses on workers who produce our goods and ensures that they are treated with dignity and justice. Students in the Fair Trade Club become aware of the details of Fair Trade and the impacts beyond simply providing a fair wage.

    Students educate themselves about the positive community impact and development that result from Fair Trade and they seek to promote the same awareness and education to others in the community. They also examine ways that Magnificat can support Fair Trade as a school community and seek to make more Fair Trade products available on campus as well as promoting a sense of conscious consumerism. Fair Trade skirts and polos are a new uniform option for Magnificat students and fair trade selections are always available in the Streaks Boutique.

    On October 2, 2012 Magnificat was certified as a Fair Trade school by Fair Trade Colleges and Universities USA! Please click here to learn more about this good news.

  • Peace and Justice Club

    The Peace and Justice Club invites students to explore what it means to live out the Gospel’s call to respect all life by working for justice. Using the seven principles of Catholic Social Teaching, students perform social analysis of justice issues and pursue actions to challenge the structures that create injustice in our local, national and global community. Using the See, Judge, Act cycle of analysis, students are invited to identify a justice issue (‘see’), educate themselves and make others aware of the issue (‘judge’), and develop a plan of action that calls for change and justice (‘act’). The Peace and Justice Club is directed by Campus Ministry with a team of student leaders who coordinate and facilitate monthly meetings as well as activities and events throughout the school year.

    The Peace and Justice Club also collaborates with other diocesan high schools through Catholic Schools for Peace and Justice (CSPJ). CSPJ is a network of peace and justice clubs from other high schools in the Diocese of Cleveland. To learn more about Catholic Schools for Peace and Justice, please visit their website www.cspj.net. Through CSPJ, students are able to use their collective voice to speak out against social justice issues, particularly issues regarding the respect for life. Past CSPJ events that Magnificat students have participated in include the Mass, March and Rally for Life in October and the Fair Trade Expo and annual summits on topics ranging from poverty to human trafficking.

  • Special Projects

    Humble Hands Advent Project
    Humble Hands is a school-wide effort that aims to help meet some of the basic needs of those in the greater Cleveland area, Youngstown, Appalachia, and the U.S. / Mexico Border. Students learn about the challenges and struggles that our brothers and sisters in Christ face every day, and take action by committing available resources to help alleviate some of the physical needs of our brothers and sisters in the community. All collected donations are distributed through the agencies that Magnificat partners with for service or immersion programs throughout the year.

    Through this student-led project coordinated by Campus Ministry, the Magnificat community hopes to be able to recognize Christ’s living presence in our sisters and brothers in need and in ourselves.

    Lenten Project
    The Lenten Project is a school-wide effort focused on the needs of our brothers and sisters in our global community. Students reflect on social justice issues and raise awareness about the challenges faced by people in Haiti and Ecuador and other countries around the world. All monetary donations are distributed through organizations with whom Magnificat has a partnership.

    Through this student-led project coordinated by Campus Ministry, the Magnificat community hopes to recognize and respond to Christ’s suffering, crucified and risen presence in the world today.

Liturgy and Prayer

Liturgy and prayer are key elements of the faith life of Magnificat High School. Rejoicing in the good things God has done and continues to do for us, the school community gathers throughout the year for a variety of liturgical celebrations. The whole school gathers for Mass on holy days and special occasions. Students are also invited to participate in a monthly Mass before school.

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  • Liturgical Ministries

    Students are invited to take a leadership role in the school's liturgical life by participating in the liturgical ministries. Through their participation in these ministries, students respond to the call to share their gifts and talents in service to the school community, the Church, and our loving God.

    Over 200 students serve in one or more of the following ministries:
    • Altar Servers: Students assist the priest during the celebration of Mass.
    • Environment ministers: Students help plan and prepare the visual environment for the spaces in which we gather for prayer.
    • Extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion: Students in their senior year share Holy Communion at Mass.
    • Hospitality ministers: Students foster a welcoming and inclusive environment through their greetings as students gather for worship and through their assistance with ushering during Communion.
    • Lectors: Students proclaim the Scripture readings, while also connecting God's Word to our daily lives through the reflections they write and preach.
    • Music ministers: Students bring musical support and spirit to the communal prayer and worship by singing or playing an instrument.

  • Family Mass Program

    This program provides each class with the opportunity to gather with their families for a special Mass and celebration. As students and their families journey through their time at Magnificat, we hope and pray that these Masses will serve as memorable occasions of reflection, celebration, and inspiration.
20770 Hilliard Blvd, Rocky River, OH 44116 | Phone: 440.331.1572 | Email: info@maghs.org
Magnificat High School, a girls' Catholic college-preparatory high school, founded and sponsored by the Sisters of the Humility of Mary, educates young women holistically to learn, lead, and serve in the spirit of Mary’s Magnificat.