Executive Director/HS Principal

Welcome to Villa Madonna Academy!

 

Brother Edward England OSB was a Benedictine monk I shall always remember.  Armed with his small copy of The Rule, he greeted our group of Benedictine educators from across the world who were gathered for one purpose:  to establish the Hallmarks of a Benedictine school.  It was the opportunity of a lifetime.

 

Discussions were heartfelt and earnest. Love of God and Neighbor, Prayer and Worship, Community and Stability, and then…Hospitality. The mere mention of the word caused a stir in the room.  Hospitality was one of the most important values to Saint Benedict, for he saw it as one of the strongest ways that his monks could encounter Christ and serve the poor.  

 

In Benedictine schools, the practice of hospitality must reflect this key concept of encountering Christ in the stranger and the guest, in the poor and those who are pilgrims.  There was no doubt that as Benedictines we must ensure that all visitors to our schools experience the attention and concern, the warmth of welcome and sensitivity to any need that we would want shown to ourselves.  And let’s remember…this hospitality must be a radical hospitality that is accepting without exception, that is a recognition of Christ even in those we may find difficult to love. 

 

Ask anyone in our school community about hospitality, and they will talk to you about the warmth of our students and teachers.  They will smile as they share stories of students holding doors, greeting others on campus, and serving in the community.  They will delight in telling you about students working at social service agencies, providing shoes and socks for inner-city children, and in the spirit of St. Benedict providing for God’s creatures at the local animal shelters. They will regale you with stories of teachers and staff working alongside their students, all the while making everyone feel at home.  You, too, will feel the inspiring spirit of hospitality.

 

Perhaps in an age when we sometimes want to shake our fist at the sky, radical hospitality calls for us to open our hearts to the “restless” and “stubborn.”  Perhaps radical hospitality is the way to overcome fear and hatred, to see Jesus in everyone we meet, and to acknowledge the connectedness of all of us.

 

We are all intricately woven into a beautiful tapestry of God’s love.  We belong with each other. Hospitality allows us to move past the challenges, to seize this opportunity of a lifetime, to welcome everyone with the love and compassion that speaks to our values.  This is Villa.  We are Villa.

 

Mrs. Pamela McQueen, Executive Director/Principal