EFFINGHAM — St. Anthony High School students recently had the opportunity to learn more about "the beautiful traditions in our faith," Father Brian Alford, the high school's chaplain, told Catholic Times.

When a faculty member at the school purchased two classic Catholic images — the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary — and donated them to the high school for display, Father Alford said he saw it as  "an opportunity to reintroduce these beautiful traditions" to young people today.

"Some of the revelations of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary were promises: 'I will bless any place which displays an image of my Sacred Heart,'" Father Alford quoted.

On March 1, the first Friday of the month, Father Alford conducted an "enthronement" — installing the images in a public place. "We blessed the two images in the chapel, then led a procession throughout the high school, blessing the school with holy water."

The images were hung just outside the school gym in a place that receives daily traffic from students as well as from visitors coming for sporting events.

"The enthronement ceremony makes the statement in a public way that our school is rooted in our faith and that Christ is to be at the center of who we are and what we do," said Father Alford. "It was to remind the St. Anthony community this is our faith — a faith initiated and celebrated in baptism, a faith united in the Eucharist, and a faith nurtured by one another throughout daily Christian interaction.

"St. Anthony High School strengthens our Catholic identity," Father Alford said. "Our faith is the very center of our community. Jesus Christ is at the center of all we do."