The Spirit of SAC by Rev. Fr. Thomas Kuriacose S.J.

 

Courtesy : L. K. Hettiarachchi – Friends of SAC 1950/1960s Photos FB

 

SPIRIT OF SAC
(Courtesy ‘The Aloysian’ 1990 magazine)

An article by Rev Fr T C Kuriacose S J

How does one define or describe the spirit of an institution like St. Aloysius' College?

How does one describe the loveliness of a dew-drop silvered by the morning sun? Or the many-splendoured glory of the evening sky as the fiery ball of gold goes down in a tropical sunset? How does one describe the million-dollar warmth of the embrace of a child? Or the pain and poignancy of a mother's tears that bathe the face of her dying child? Our deepest feelings, our ecstatic experiences, the powerful forces deep within us that drive us on, the motivations that give meaning to our actions – these defy description.

So too, the excitement and thrill of living ideas, of noble values and attitudes imparted in school, not for a living, but for life, a pride and power of knowledge that strains at the leash, as it were, to be put at the service of others, the exultation of success and the hopelessness of failure, the life-long friendships made and the loveliness of all that conspired happily to make the years in school the blessedest of memories - these can never be adequately described. They will never become real to us till they are experienced. All of them put together plus those many intangible but very real experiences are all elements of what one would call the spirit of a school. Trying, therefore, to encapsulate the spirit of SAC in a few words would be only a futile and frustrating exercise.

As our good Irish friends across the Galway Bay would say, one might as well go chasing rainbows or light a penny candle from a star!

And yet the spirit of the old school is so real and pervading, so vigorously alive in Aloysians that they do want to talk about it, and give expression to it in different ways. That is why when Aloysians get together, they HAVE to talk of the old school on Calvary Hill: of all the multitudinous experiences that have been woven into the texture of their lives. That is also why when old Aloysians living abroad, unable to resist the call of the land that gave them birth, nurtured and nourished them, decide to holiday even briefly in 'Paradise Lost', one of the first things they want to do, in spite of all the obstacles a land in turmoil such as ours presents, is to visit the little harbour town in the south and nostalgically climb the hill they had climbed a thousand times when they were just boys, all the while feeling those steps plucking at their heart strings and stirring a thousand memories of men and matters that moulded them into what they are now.

And when they reach the school there will be varied reactions. Some will feel a lump in their throat as they contemplate the memory of the men who are no more but to whom they owe more than they could ever repay here on earth. Some will think of the song and laughter, the riotous escapades and their consequences, or talk of the good fellowship and friendliness and fun and sing and shout "till the rafters ring"; still others will just go round the old familiar grounds and buildings, stopping every now and then to revere fond memories of the priest whose room they would flock to, just to sit and chat and, osmosis - wise, absorb the aroma of goodness and kindness and those lovely values which are sadly disappearing fast in the throwaway culture of our day; or they would sit in those quiet corridors they frequented once upon a time to dream the dreams some of which have even come true!

They will contemplate every building, every nook and corner of grounds clustered with memories of incidents and of persons: the familiar faces of Rectors, of the Fathers and the teachers of long ago the boys of those days, of the "men that were boys when they were boys". Yes, the old school has a way of doing this to you. If you have not experienced it yourself you would not in any way understand.

Though the reactions will vary, feelings deep, deep inside, will be the same: the intimacy of a great love and the sacredness and mystery of it too.

All this and more are part of the spirit of SAC, a spirit so very real and yet so very intangible. It clings to you like an umbilical cord refusing to be cut, joining you to your past. It is made up of every thing formative that goes to fill the years at school. The agents and architects are primarily the teachers: priests, brothers, lay men and women, all of whom though from different backgrounds pursue the same common goal of moulding young lives and nurturing them to full growth of mind and heart and spirit - that splendid array of teachers revered not so much for their academic brilliance as for the example and inspiration of their lives. quiet corridors they frequented once upon a time to dream the dreams some of which have even come true!

The ingredients that went to the making of the spirit of SAC may not have been very different from what went to the making of the spirit of any other school, but the distinctiveness and uniqueness of the SAC spirit consisted, I think, in the harmonious blending that gave a distinct flavour which made every Aloysian proud of being an Aloysian. This was not a triumphalistic pride by any means, but the legitimate pride born of the sure knowledge that the special blending of values and attitudes to life found at SAC did give them a special stamp and character. What constitutes the special spirit of SAC, then, is not so much something quantitative but the qualitative concentration of values and attitudes incarnated in the school.

Stones, brick and mortar do not make SAC. No.

SAC is a living thing made up of men in whom live the spirit and glory of SAC.

The capital on which Aloysians now live was of their amassing. It is what they poured into SAC with selfless love and heroic dedication that Aloysians have inherited as the Spirit of SAC.

As we look on the lives of these matchless men - men like Neut and Feron, Lermusieaux and Gaspard, Chiriatti, Perniola and Pogany, Paul Peiris, De Mattia, Morelli and De Burra and lay teachers like Wimalaratne, Perimpanayagam, Vedamuttu, Venkiteswaram and Venkitachalam, Theodora Alles, P.C. Dias, S.D. Gibson and W.B. Ratnayake, Dorothy Anghie and Miss Gogerly, and a host of other glorious names that can fill several pages of this Jubilee Volume - men and women whose dreams and visions created the SAC we knew and now cherish, and we realize with humble gratitude that it was their qualities of faith and love and unrelenting pursuit of truth and beauty and goodness that grew and blossomed into the spirit of SAC, our hearts must surely be filled with unexpressible feelings and we have to ask ourselves: what shall we render to you, SAC, for all that you have rendered to us!

When, one by one, the lights that illuminted our lives are going out and the black horror of savage violence threatens everything we hold dear, what shall Aloysians do for the land that gave them birth and the school that taught them the lessons which the touch of life must turn to truth? When years ago the sadness of the "take-over" of schools engulfed us, we comforted ourselves with the thought that though governments could take over our buildings they could never crush the spirit: that something indefinable and intangible, nevertheless very real and indomitable. But now the agonising question is raised deep down in our beings: will the desolation spreading all over the country destroy even such intangibles as the spirit of SAC?

And from Aloysian hearts, loyal and true, must come the answer: No, not if in the changing and perilous times we are-living in, Aloysians regard it as their privilege to live the motto they proudly proclaim.

They may not have the certainty that in their own time they will realise and fulfil the goals they set for themselves; they may not succeed in restoring the values on which alone our society can survive. But they can by dedication and commitment be the people who, when others have given up, will continue to strive manfully and so do their country and their Alma Mater proud.

It is surely in this hour of our country's greatest need when even reason seems to have fled to brutish beasts, that the true Aloysian spirit must bear witness to the noble ideals and values it holds and treasures: they must never be allowed to fade but must ever remain green and fresh not only in Aloysian memories but in Aloysian lives; their solid character must shine in the darkness with the gleam of gold and in a society saturated with vice and violence, fraud and corruption, the Aloysian spirit must excel in the lily-white purity of life - in word and in deed. The torch of learning they were given to carry out into the new world of their making to lighten their paths in works of peace and justice must never be allowed to grow dim, flicker and die.

That will be the finest tribute of gratitude Aloysians can give to their Alma Mater; that is the finest service they can render to their country in this hour of her greatest need.

When that is resolved and put into daily practice, Aloysians can with true authenticity and unadulterated love translate for their old school Belloc's beautiful address to his beloved Balliol:

SAC made me, SAC fed me;
Whatever I have, she gave me again.
And the best of SAC loved and led me.
God be with you, SAC men.

T.C. Kuriacose. S.J.

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