St. Mary’s Academy celebrates Loretto and Earth

St. Mary’s Academy students in Denver created prayer flags for Earth Day, April 25. Calling their commemoration “Be Loretto Day/Earth Day,” the creative effort was aligned with the Students Spark Peace Rebuild Project, an organization St. Mary’s has worked with for many years. Spark Peace encourages kids to share their visions for peace through creativity; in return they donate funds to peace-building groups around the world. (Watch a video about Spark Peace.)

Regina Drey SL, director of Loretto projects at St. Mary’s, shares that the 250 lower school students came together in buddy groups to create prayer flags using their own images and prayers for peace. “The purpose of this project is to inspire students to actively participate in creating their own spiritual space and to promote community wellness,” Regina says. The flags were made of upcycled cotton fabric soaked in natural dyes using a traditional Japanese dyeing process taught by an artist from Japan. St. Mary’s plans to send flags to the Loretto Motherhouse in Nerinx, Ky., to display on the International Day of Peace in September and keep some to hang at the school.

In addition, as you’ll see in this issue’s Spotlight Video, on Be Loretto Day/Earth Day, fourth grade Loretto Leaders held sessions to teach other students about the problem of microplastics. Even in the Himalayas, including on Mt. Everest, plastics are an environmental hazard. Read a fascinating article shared by Regina about the local traditions and meaning of prayer flags that have been increasingly made of plastic-derived materials like polyester. Local groups in the area are working to raise awareness and replace synthetic prayer flags with traditional biodegradable flags — similar to those made at St. Mary’s.

To read all of the articles in the summer 2025 issue click here.