"We weren't even into a whole decade of the rosary and she pulled up and parked right in front of us. She got out of the car, walked across the street and took out her phone and started recording us. We were all noticing her; we were all kind of confused by it. We weren't sure why she was recording us, if she thought this was cool or not. We just kept praying."

The Academy rejects claims circulating on social media that students were forced to attend, compelled to kneel, or denied access to water. Those making such claims, or perpetuating these false claims, are participating in a false narrative.

Attendance was voluntary, students were not required or asked to kneel, and water was not denied to anyone. Participants remained in an orderly line on the back half of the public sidewalk (leaving the sidewalk accessible to the public) with their backs facing the clinic. No one was physically or visually near the clinic doors. No patients were approached or spoken to.

While the Academy respects freedom of speech, disagreement does not justify intimidation or verbal abuse directed at students or those supervising them as they exercised their constitutional rights.

We are deeply concerned by the hostility directed toward children engaged in peaceful prayer and by the subsequent targeting of our school community.

"God is so good. It just so happened that the eighth grade had the annual retreat two days later, so we were able to check and see how the kids were processing it all, and they were like, 'This is war. This is a battle, and I know what side I'm on.'

It's been amazing. I think as adults, we can get a little frazzled, especially when we are taking care of kids, thinking we can't put kids in martyrdom. We had two middle school boys, who, when we were getting in the van, they held their rosaries in the air and they shouted, 'Vivo Cristo Rey!' They are ready."

"While you don't want them or wish for them to be exposed to evil, it's such an empowering part of their development to have that in the confines of a safe, loving community that can reorient them toward the truth and what is beautiful, good, and true. It has been a tremendous gift."

Seeing [the students] kneel and continue praying made me reflect on the concept of “white martyrdom.”

In Catholic tradition, white martyrdom refers to a form of witness to Christ that involves enduring hardship, sacrifice, rejection, or persecution without being killed for the faith. The word martyr comes from the Greek word for “witness.”

While red martyrdom refers to witnessing to Christ even unto death, white martyrdom is often used to describe a life of faithful perseverance and sacrifice amid suffering and opposition.

Think about it: these were sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. They could have asked us to leave. They could have decided that the confrontation was too uncomfortable and that it was better to stop praying. Instead, they continued. They knelt. They prayed. They were not ashamed to make their faith visible.

Their witness convicted me.

"We weren't even into a whole decade of the rosary and she pulled up and parked right in front of us. She got out of the car, walked across the street and took out her phone and started recording us. We were all noticing her; we were all kind of confused by it. We weren't sure why she was recording us, if she thought this was cool or not. We just kept praying."

The Academy rejects claims circulating on social media that students were forced to attend, compelled to kneel, or denied access to water. Those making such claims, or perpetuating these false claims, are participating in a false narrative.

Attendance was voluntary, students were not required or asked to kneel, and water was not denied to anyone. Participants remained in an orderly line on the back half of the public sidewalk (leaving the sidewalk accessible to the public) with their backs facing the clinic. No one was physically or visually near the clinic doors. No patients were approached or spoken to.

While the Academy respects freedom of speech, disagreement does not justify intimidation or verbal abuse directed at students or those supervising them as they exercised their constitutional rights.

We are deeply concerned by the hostility directed toward children engaged in peaceful prayer and by the subsequent targeting of our school community.

"God is so good. It just so happened that the eighth grade had the annual retreat two days later, so we were able to check and see how the kids were processing it all, and they were like, 'This is war. This is a battle, and I know what side I'm on.'

It's been amazing. I think as adults, we can get a little frazzled, especially when we are taking care of kids, thinking we can't put kids in martyrdom. We had two middle school boys, who, when we were getting in the van, they held their rosaries in the air and they shouted, 'Vivo Cristo Rey!' They are ready."

"While you don't want them or wish for them to be exposed to evil, it's such an empowering part of their development to have that in the confines of a safe, loving community that can reorient them toward the truth and what is beautiful, good, and true. It has been a tremendous gift."

Seeing [the students] kneel and continue praying made me reflect on the concept of “white martyrdom.”

In Catholic tradition, white martyrdom refers to a form of witness to Christ that involves enduring hardship, sacrifice, rejection, or persecution without being killed for the faith. The word martyr comes from the Greek word for “witness.”

While red martyrdom refers to witnessing to Christ even unto death, white martyrdom is often used to describe a life of faithful perseverance and sacrifice amid suffering and opposition.

Think about it: these were sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. They could have asked us to leave. They could have decided that the confrontation was too uncomfortable and that it was better to stop praying. Instead, they continued. They knelt. They prayed. They were not ashamed to make their faith visible.

Their witness convicted me.