Saint Paul’s hosted its annual Luminaries festival on Thursday, Dec. 2024.

The 2024 Luminaries included the usual festivities of caroling, a mass in the chapel, and a band concert in the Briggs Assembly Center.

The word displayed on the Hunter Stadium bleachers this year was “Adventus,” meaning coming.

At mass in the chapel, Senior Class President Eddie D’Hemecourt explained the rationale behind the choice of Adventus for this year.

He explained that, as we celebrate Christ’s birth as part of Christmas, we also are waiting for His return, hence “Adventus” in future tense.

Prior to the service, a trio of Saint Paul’s seniors led the singing of several Christmas carols amid the candlelight of the congregation.

Saint Paul’s also allowed cars to drive through De La Salle Drive and admire the beautiful lighting throughout campus.

Afterward, everyone enjoyed baked goods in the Briggs. The crowd was treated to a concert by the Saint Paul’s Jazz Band, which played a mix of the typical Saint Paul’s repertoire and Christmas classics.

The Luminaries festival has its roots as far back as the 1940s in the American Southwest, particularly New Mexico, in which New Mexican Catholics would line their town’s streets with luminarias, or “farolitos,” as some describe them.

It is believed that the traditional Christian practice was a combination of the vigil fire luminarias used by New Mexican Native Americans during Las Posadas and the Philippine Catholic practice of putting out favorites during Advent and Christmas.

Saint Paul’s first adopted the tradition in the 1960s. While we don’t know much about how or when exactly the tradition was brought to Saint Paul’s, we do know that one of the brothers introduced the idea.

Now, all Saint Paul’s students participate in Luminaries by initially crafting the paper bags in which the candles are placed. During Pack Time, students are advised to write a personal prayer intention on the bottom of each bag. The bags are then collected by the Saint Paul’s Student Council, which helps organize the layout, set up the bags throughout campus and the stadium, and light the candles inside the bags. The result is a beautifully lit campus filled with God’s presence upon individual prayer intentions, along with a special word spelled out in Hunter Stadium. The word is kept a secret until it’s revealed that evening.

To date, Saint Paul’s has continued the tradition nearly every year, including during the Covid lockdowns of 2020, in which the word was fittingly “Hope.”

Last year (2023), following the passing of Saint Paul’s President Brother Ray, the word on the bleachers of Hunter Stadium was Oriri, meaning “rise,” in reference to Saint Paul’s staple hymn “Rise Up O’ Men of God” to commemorate our late President.

Luminaries is one of the many rich traditions Saint Paul’s offers, and it’s especially great for those looking for a way to get a head start on the Christmas season.