When viewing this site their may be terms that some may not be familiar with. With that in mind we have created the following list of terms
ALBERTUS MAGNUS – AKA St. Albert the Great was canonized and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church on December 16, 1931, by Pope Pius XI and the patron Saint of natural scientists in 1941.
ARCHDIOCESE – The district that an Arch Bishop is responsible for.
ARCHBISHOP – Has jurisdiction (but no superiority of order) over the other Bishops of a district.
BOGUE – Adj: Disgusting and/or alarming . 2. Verb: Ruinous behavior. 1. Man, that soup was bogue! 2. Stop bogueing my party. The term “Don’t be Bogue” was a popular term at St. Albert’s in the mid seventies. Once you leave the great State of Michigan, you will never hear this word uttered again.
CARDINAL (BIRD) – The cardinal bird was the mascot of St. Albert’s school.
CARDINAL (BISHOP) – A Cardinal is a leading Bishop who is appointed by the Pope for life. Among their many duties is to select a new Pope when the Holy See is vacant.
CCD (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) – A religious education program of the Catholic Church, normally designed for children and sometimes known as Catechism.
CHRONICLE – A written recording of events in chronological order presented weekly at St. Albert’s. The St. Albert Chronicle was usually four pages and would sometimes have inserts for special events.
CIRCLED DOT – A form of punishment where the student puts his nose on the dot and his hands on the circle.
CHURCH RECTORY – A residence of a rector or a Parish Priest. Msgr. Weier lived in a rectory just beyond the St. Albert parking lot.
CLOAK ROOM – Located outside of each class to hang coats and store brown bag lunches. Practice of ’emergency’ drills had children huddle in these cloakrooms for tornado or nuclear attacks.
CONVENT – A Christian community under monastic vows, especially one of nuns. A large house or building where the nuns lived.
CREEK – AKA The Ecorse River. Many homes pay flood insurance because of this small creek.
CYO – The Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) of the Archdiocese of Detroit was founded in 1933 to help metropolitan Detroit’s children live clean, wholesome lives, regardless of their religious faith, their racial background, or their day-to-day living conditions. In this book, for the most part, references to CYO are meant for CYO sports where one parish would play another parish in a sports league.
DIOCESE – The ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a Bishop.
ECCLESIASTICAL – Relating to the Christian Church or its clergy.
HOLY SEE – The jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, also known as the Pope.
HOT LUNCH – A hot lunch was a sloppy joe or hot dog that was served at lunch time every Tuesday at St. Albert’s at a very low cost, about .40 cents. Other lunch days students would go home for lunch or “brown bag” it.
LEUTCH or LUCH – Abbreviated and unflattering term for Sister Lucina while she was Principal at St. Albert’s school.
LITTLE FRIENDS – A term to represent any group of 2 or more students from the Class of ’75. It was coined by the wife of a Class of ’75 graduate. In a sentence use – “Please invite the little friends to the party”.
MARIST – Refers to organizations that are linked to (or whose origins are linked to) the religious orders that began as the Society of Mary, The Marist Fathers, The Marist Brothers, as well as to The Marist Sisters and The Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary.
MAY CROWNING – A Catholic tradition that can be traced back centuries where the entire Month of May is set aside to honor Mary, the Mother of God. This includes a procession where a statue of Mary is displayed and then crowned with flowers as the procession comes to a close
MIMEOGRAPH – A duplicating machine which produces copies from a stencil, now superseded by the photocopier. It was not unusual for students to smell a freshly mimeographed paper.
MISSAL – A book containing all instructions and texts necessary for the celebration of Mass throughout the year.
MISSALETTE (MONTHLY) – A pamphlet containing the prayers, readings, songs, etc., for the Mass of a specific month. The Monthly Missalette usually had about 60 – 70 pages depending on the month and the time of the year (Christmas and Easter was usually the largest missalette’s).
MITRE – Traditional ceremonial head gear worn by Bishops and Cardinals during important ceremonies. In first grade Sister Vincent had her class make Cardinal Mitre’s for Msgr. Weier’s 25th Jubilee.
MR. NIK FIELD – The baseball diamond behind the gym was named after Coach Ray Nikolai in 1991 and is sometimes referred to as Mr. Nik Field.
MSGR – Abbreviation for Monsignor which is an honorary title for Roman Catholic Clergy. It is a title, not a position, and was suspended in 2013 by Pope Francis except to members of the Holy See’s diplomatic service.
MY EAR’S WET – Slang term for the word “Pierre” (Pee Ear) created by some of the mental giants of the class.
NARTHEX – A large porch or entrance chamber in a modern Church, also known as a “Western Vestibule”.
NAVE – The main section of pews in a Church. St. Albert’s had two main sections of large pews which would have considered the “Nave” of the Church. The side pews on each side would not be considered part of the “Nave” of the Church.
NUNS HABIT – A distinctive set of religious clothing worn by members of a religious order.
PHONOGRAPH (Record Player) – A device for the mechanical recording and reproduction of sound. It was the most common device for playing recorded music from the 1870s through the 1980s.
POP – Michigan term for soda or soda pop such as Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, etc. This is considered a slang term in many other states.
RECORD – A flat vinyl disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove which stores analog versions of music or sound. The groove usually starts near the periphery edge and ends near the center of the disc. Records came in various sizes and were named based on rpm (I.E. 45 rpm, 33 rpm, 78 rpm)
RECORDER – The recorder is a type of internal duct flute that is held vertically straight from the mouth rather than mouth to shoulder as you would see in a flute. Sister Charlotte taught this in 2nd grade and many of the students can still play the instrument to this day.
SACRAMENTS – The seven sacraments are Baptism, Confirmation, Communion or Eucharist, Penance or Confession, Anointing of the Sick or Last Rites, Marriage, and Holy Orders. Most of the Class of ’75 received four sacraments while at St. Albert’s and those who were married there received five.
SACRARIUM – A special sink located in the Sacristy of the Church. It purpose is to receive the water from the washing of the sacred vessels and linens. It is also used for the reverent disposal of sacred substances. Ordinary sinks drain into the sewer system, the Sacrarium or basin, drains directly into the earth, thus displaying reverence for what is holy and sacred.
SACRISTY – A room for keeping sacred vessels and vestments that is usually located in a Church. At St. Albert’s the Sacristy was located in a room in the back of the Church.
SANCTUARY – The worship area of a Church, at St. Albert’s the sanctuary would be where the pews were located, both the main (nave) and side pews.
SECULAR – Non Religious. Not relating to Religion or a Religious body.
SNERTZEL – The shavings from a pencil eraser, a term used often by Mr. O in third grade.
SRA – Scholastic Reading Assessment, a fun reading program at St. Albert’s and other schools where the books were color coded for reading assessment.
STINGLEMAN – A yard stick used for discipline at St. Albert’s school. The name given was given by Mr. O and was primarily used as a punishment bluff.
TABERNACLE – The receptacle in which the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in churches and chapels.
VESTIBULE – Passage, antechamber or hall between the outer doors of the Church and the Church itself.
