Academy Mission

“The end of education is that the child come to prefer freely and forever the true over the false, good over evil, the just over the unjust, beauty over ugliness, and God over all.” -Fr. Victor-Alain Berto, Peritus of Archbishop Lefebvre at Vatican II 

The mission of St. Peregrine Academy is, quite simply, to carry out the charge which Our Lord Jesus Christ entrusted to the Catholic Church in her role as teacher. “Going therefore, teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” (Matthew 28:19) To give souls the knowledge and love of God — this is the noble mission of the Academy. “That they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3)

Pope Pius XI’s beautiful encyclical on Christian education, Divini Illius Magistri, states clearly: “Since education consists essentially in preparing man for what he must be and for what he must do here below, in order to attain the sublime end for which he was created, it is clear that there can be no true education which is not wholly directed to man’s last end, and that in the present order of Providence, since God has revealed Himself to us in the Person of His Only Begotten Son, who alone is ‘the way, the truth and the life,’ there can be no ideally perfect education which is not Christian education.”

As the same encyclical states, “education is essentially a social and not a mere individual activity.” Therefore, the Academy aims to provide a safe and nurturing atmosphere for the child’s first foray outside the home. The young student learns firsthand how to live within this context of Catholic community and ultimately work towards the restoration of the Catholic social order. It was wisely remarked upon by Archbishop Lefebvre that “the future of the Catholic Church and her mission lies in teaching, especially in schools run by priests and religious who preach by word and example. For society to be converted, we need Catholic schools.”

As a school of the Society of St. Pius X, the office of principal is held by a priest who strives to ensure the Academy’s lofty motto: Bene Omnia Facere (To Do All Things Well). The generous teachers under his leadership carry out the Society’s effort to convert society by way of traditional Catholic education, thereby aiming to accomplish that mission inherited from our patron to “restore all things in Christ.”