History & Traditions

If I was being funny, I could say something here about how LIFE is Catholic, and in the Catholic Church, we use tradition, and as a Catholic group, LIFE has a lot of tradition. But I'm not going to say that, even if its true. This page takes a look at some of the traditions of LIFE -- both those still alive, and those of days past.

Recent Traditions These traditions are the ones still in use today, as far as I know.

Senior Sendoff and Ceiling Tiles

Historically, each senior class has also selected a ceiling tile. The seniors at senior sendoff would then decorate the tile using permanent marker, as their final mark on the LIFE Room. As of writing this, I do not know what the fate of all of the old class ceiling tiles is, or if this tradition will be continued in one form or another in the new Faith Formation Center.

The Rules Video

Rules Video Scene, Spring 2011

The rules have varied over time. One thing stays the same between each rules video: they are designed to make people laugh and start retreat out with a positive attitude (which, by the way is a rule in some renderings of "The Rulz").

Every rules video is different. Some years, they have reflected the theme of the retreat (Spring 2009's The Battle was about a training camp). Other years have been parodies (Spring 2011 parodied "Real World"). Each year brings a new set of humor and inside jokes to the video, as well as a new video team. Recent years videos have featured the TLT members for that year.

We are currently in the process of getting as many of these videos as we can online for your viewing enjoyment. Below, you can find a list of old rules videos, as well as links to them.

Snippy Cooping

The "No Snippy Cooping" Scene from the
Spring 2010 Rules Video

For years, the policy of "No Snippy Cooping" went on hiatus, to make room for more newer slang, such as "No Gettin' Fresh" and "Leave Room for Jesus."

It made a return in Fall 2008 when Kelly Kopinski joined as the assistant youth minister. She was in charge of the rules video for that retreat, a Dark Knight themed video, and listed that as one of the rules. The teen leadership for that year was thoroughly confused by this odd-sounding rule, and proceeded to make fun of it in the following sequence of rules videos.

Today, the term "SnippyCooping" has stuck, appearing in nearly all of the rules videos since then, although sometimes only hidden in the credits and wrap-up.

The St. Michael Prayer
LIFE Nights will often conclude with the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel... unless we forget.

Ways of the Past
These traditions are no longer in service, but have been documented here, based off of LIFEers who have lived through them.

The Old LIFE Room
The old LIFE Room was beneath the Parish Office, tucked away in the basement. It smelled funny, flooded on occasion (and indeed, a flood ended its use a few weeks before its scheduled decommission), and occasionally had bugs and rodents hiding in it, but it was the place that hundreds of Catholic high schoolers came to experience their faith over the years.

There were many additional traditions associated with the old LIFE Room over the years. This page documents but a few of them.

The Safe Place Wall
Perhaps the most famous feature of the Life Room is the orange wall along the back of the room. Every member of LIFE is invited to sign this wall as their agreement to keep LIFE a safe place. The names of hundreds of LIFE alumni have been scrawled onto this wall. Several include messages, drawings, or other decorations.

Various other articles have found themselves on display along the Safe Place wall over the years. These include a crucifix, the Papal flag, and even a picture of Pope Benedict XVI himself!

In the spring of 2011, prior to the closing of the old LIFE Room for good, the CYM at the time (Chellsy Brereton), along with CORE and TLT leaders wrote down all of the names recorded on the SAFE PLACE wall.

The Jesus Wall

The Jesus Wall, Fall 2009

LIFE alumnus Joanna Davis painted the mural years ago by tracing a template via an overhead projector. Just because the mural is traced, don't let that fool you. Joanna did a stunning job with the artwork. (And yes, Joanna is the daughter of CORE member Mrs. Davis.)

This mural became the direction that students faced during praise and worship sessions in the LIFE Room.

Before The Jesus Wall
The Jesus Wall didn't always exist though. It used to be that the Life Room got repainted every year, except for the Safe Place wall. Every other wall got a fresh coat of paint annually, in various colors selected by the group. For several years, the paint from past years used to be stored in one of the side rooms in the basement there. Some of the LIFE scrapbooks date back long enough that you can see some of the other wall decorations.

Three on Three
Another retired tradition is known as Three on Three. It worked pretty simply. If you say something negative about somebody, you have to make up for it by saying three nice things about that person and three nice things about yourself. These had to actually be about the person, not something like "nice hair" or "I like your clothes."

The Zorch Prayer
Here's another one out of the Life Room archives. The Zorch Prayer is another cool little tidbit from the Ed Bailey days.

Every so often, the night would conclude this way. After a song or reflection, they would have the wrappers from pop bottles strung down from the ceiling and set it on fire. This created an awesome sound.

Note: This was done safely by the youth minister and should not be tried at home.

No Shoes Allowed!
Another one from the Ed Bailey days is something that I don't think that anybody wants to revive, considering the state of the Life Room.

There used to be a wall with a door separating the snack area from the main room. You were required to take your shoes off and leave them in the snack area before going into the main room, to symbolize leaving all of the dirt from the outside world behind.

Hugs
Another defunct rule stemming from Ed Bailey: If you're gonna hug one person, you gotta invite others to join in.