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Our Xaverian Identity

Theodore James Ryken established the Xaverian Brothers in 1839. Today, St. John's Prep, along with 12 other Xaverian Brothers Sponsore Schools in the United States, continues to educate students in a way that inspires learning, faith, and service.

Founded by Brother Benjamin in 1907, St. John’s Prep is part of a unique Xaverian community that stretches from Kentucky to Massachusetts. A network of 13 schools in the United States, Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools serve more than 13,000 students and families. Dedicated to promoting a community in which all have access to faith, our Xaverian identity centers around using our own gifts and talents as a way to improve the world around us. Whether students come to the Prep having heard of the Xaverian Brothers before or are being introduced to them for the first time, our Xaverian identity guides students in all areas of life at the Prep.

There are a number of ways the Xaverian Brothers presence is felt on campus. While the majority of the faculty and staff are lay people (meaning they are not Brothers, priests, or nuns), St. John’s history has been shaped by the visionary Brothers who have served as teachers, coaches, staff members, and administrators. We continue their legacy through the Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools Leadership Team on which seniors serve; by celebrating Founder’s Day, and focusing retreats around the Xaverian spiritual values. 

Rooted in the Catholic intellectual tradition, St. John’s Prep believes a Catholic education should be a bridge between religious faith and contemporary culture. At St. John’s, we preserve and grow this heritage by upholding the harmony of faith and reason. We recognize that the work of human hands and minds can be a manifestation of God’s presence. As students reflect on and respond to the signs of the times in a global society, our goal is to cultivate our students’ values compass and equip them with the capacity and desire to right wrongs, help the helpless, stand for justice, and serve their neighbors. By embracing faith’s role in every dimension of life through a Xaverian lens, we instill a sense of wonder and an awareness that the search for any truth can be a sacred and spiritual endeavor.

Liturgies and Prayer Life

Students are encouraged to offer their gifts, talents, and desire to be involved in the prayer life of school. Liturgies allow for students to play music or sing for school liturgies, as well as serve as eucharistic ministers, altar servers, readers, acolytes, banner bearers, and gift bearers.

Xaverian Catholic Identity Statement

What does the Lord require of you, that you act justly,
love tenderly and walk humbly with your God
Micah 6:8

The St. John’s Prep community lives our inclusive, Catholic identity  rooted in the ministry of Jesus Christ and the lived experience of the Xaverian way. In our quest, we seek, embrace, and respond to the call of the Gospel. We seek to allow ourselves to be formed by God through the common, ordinary, unspectacular flow of everyday life, open to experiencing a liberation never before imagined.*

Called to become more deeply aware of God’s presence among us, we foster prayer and reflection as a way of being, we celebrate the spiritual and liturgical life of the Church, we come together  in community with one another, we engage in retreats and experiences of service, and we honor diverse religious and spiritual practices.  

We embrace all people as created in the image and likeness of God, and we see all people as called to be unique expressions of God’s love in the world. *

Animated by  a vision of Church that cherishes all, we are an academic community of faith that strives to embrace a habit of excellence in living the Catholic intellectual tradition. We promote the growth and development of the whole person in a manner that nurtures individual and communal formation and forges strong interpersonal relationships.

We respond to the call of a life of constant searching, looking to the developments of our times as sources of comfort and challenge. We commit to journeying with our sisters and brothers as we strive  to use the gifts God has given us for the good of others. *

Inspired by Ryken’s humility and love for God, we nurture in all members of the Prep family the ongoing discovery and realization of their unique, God-given gifts and the call to serve the common good by living prophetic lives of charity, justice and hope.

*Adapted from the Fundamental Principles of the Brothers of St. Francis Xavier 

Catholic Intellectual Tradition

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First Cultural Priority

Embrace all in the image and likeness of God

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Second Cultural Priority

Seek to develop habits of excellence

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Third Cultural Priority

Be unique expressions of God's love

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