She lives in Albany. It's snowing. And she's 90. But nothing can stop Sr. Bayo from returning to 91st Street for First Communion.
As she does every year, former Head of Lower School Angie Bayo, RSCJ spent time with the second graders preparing to make their First Communion, which they will do this Sunday. Gathered in the Chapel, students enjoyed sharing where their families would be traveling from (responses included China, London, Venezuela, Colombia, Brooklyn, and 59th Street). Sr. Bayo then spoke with the girls about the significance of First Communion and how to experience it to the fullest: by taking a moment to breathe and speak God's language, which Sr. Bayo said was silence.
Later, Sr. Bayo met with the girls in their classrooms to practice two minutes of silence and share her own story of receiving the Eucharist for the first time – a moment that she says changed her life. As she was leaving one classroom, a second grader spontaneously ran up to hug her, which prompted the rest of the class to follow.
Sr. Bayo will attend the ceremony this Sunday.