WEB EXCLUSIVE  To celebrate the Feast of Mater, students gathered this morning in the chapel in dress uniform with pink accessories and honored the annual tradition.

To tell the story of Pauline’s fresco of Mary, Theology Department Chair Paul Pryor Lorentz compared the history of work to the struggle of trying something new during the chapel.

“Mater is really here to remind us that sometimes we need to slow down and not be as distracted by the noise around us,” theology teacher Kate McMichael said. “We instead need to actually remember those essential things inside of us, not just the things that yell at us the loudest.”

The chapel reminds the community of these things while also celebrating the tradition of goûter, pink doughnuts, following the chapel.

“One thing that I love about the tradition of the Mater chapel is having goûter,” sophomore Jacqui Carlson said. “In French, goûter means “to taste” and it’s always something I have looked forward to since I was little at Convent Elementary.”

To add to the sense of community, Head of School Rachel Simpson welcomed the school to add pink accessories to dress uniform. The abundance of pink represents young Pauline Perdrau and her fresco painting that began the tradition of celebrating Mater.

“The color pink was Pauline’s favorite color,” McMichael said. “So as she created a fresco of Mary who was about her age, Mary was also wearing her favorite color.”

As the color pink represents Perdrau’s identity, the chapel of Mater is meant to let everyone think about their personal identity, according to McMichael.

“Mater is always there to remind us that the hectic deadlines aren’t all of life,” McMichael said. “We’re more than that and we matter as individuals.”