O God,

You are the source of light that enlightens the mind with the splendor of truth.
We ask you to bless all the Catholic elementary and secondary schools in our
diocese with a strong faith in You, who alone are the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Bless all our parish families who follow Your guidance as they sacrifice to make Catholic education
available to all, from the greatest to the least among us.

We thank you for the gift of our Catholic Schools, our teachers, staff and volunteers, 
our parents and children, our faithful parishioners - our entire Catholic family.

Together they make it possible for our youth to be formed as disciples of Christ
who know Him in the Scriptures and "in the breaking of the bread,"
who love Him in their brothers and sisters,
and who serve Him in all they do for the glory of God and the good of others,
that throughout their lives they may experience the happiness of belonging to God
and come one day to perfect joy You forever as saints in heaven

Amen.

The history of Catholic schools in the United States is directly linked to the history of immigration. Through the first half of the 20th century, thousands of Catholic schools were founded to serve immigrant populations arriving from Europe. The Church has always given special care and made a commitment to serving immigrants and the poor. Today, we are blessed with a crucial opportunity to continue this legacy of service to immigrant populations—most of whom are arriving from Latin America—through Catholic education. More than ever, this requires a thoughtful and deliberate approach to making Catholic schools available, affordable, and accessible.

(From The Catholic Schools Principal's Guide, The Alliance for Catholic Education, University of Notre Dame, 2016)