The second annual diocesan-sponsored Sacred Art and Music Camp was held at St. Matthew the Apostle Catholic Parish from August 3 – 7, 2026, for youth from third grade through high school.
The year’s theme was the Immaculate Heart of Mary, whose devotion we celebrate in the month of August. Caroline Berger, a college graduate in art education and Reynoldsburg St. Pius parishioner, designed two sacred art images portraying Her Immaculate Heart. The campers in third through fifth grade painted the Immaculate Heart on 5×7 primed wooden arch plaques. The campers in sixth grade and older painted a portrait of Mary pointing to Her Immaculate Heart, also on wooden arch plaques. The art sessions were formatted to create each image in steps, learning to pray with sacred art while doing so.
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The music rehearsed during the week was selected from the Church’s rich treasury of sacred music, introducing campers to both chant and Latin. As music specific to the Sacred Liturgy, it was then presented at Mass at the end of the camp week as the capstone event. The First Friday Mass for the Sacred Heart of Jesus was celebrated by Fr. Michael Hartge and supported by Diocesan Director of Music Dr. Richard Fitzgerald on the organ. Music selections included the Anima Christi simple chant; Mary the Dawn hymn in Mode I; the Salve Regina simple chant; and the Ordinary of the Mass with the Latin simple chants. Because the Mass can be sung from the opening Sign of the Cross until the Final Blessing, the priest celebrant’s prayers, the First Reading, and the Gospel were all chanted as well. Immediately following Mass, Fr. Hartge blessed the participants’ sacred image creations, which were displayed in the church gathering space in a gallery format. Each camper was given a Home Altar Kit to prepare a special place at home for their new work of sacred art. Each kit contained one blessed tealight beeswax candle blessed on Candlemas 2026, a bottle of holy water, small vial of blessed salt, a Marian pocket prayer book, blessed St. Benedict medal and informational pamphlet, various prayer cards, and a simple wall hanger and small tripod display for options to display the new sacred art at home.
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The four-day camp was modeled after the Vacation Bible School format, structured with morning and afternoon sessions of art and music, with daily recreation and indoor/outdoor games at midday. It also involved morning talks on the topics of Praying throughout the Day; Praying with the Psalms, the songbook of the Bible; Praying with Visual Art; and Praying with the Church at home, also known as Liturgical Living. Each day included praying the Angelus at noon and Daytime Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours as the camp day ended each afternoon.
The camp served 70 students from around the diocese, representing the parishes of Gahanna St. Matthew, Delaware St. Mary, Sunbury St. John Neumann, Pickerington Seton Parish, Reynoldsburg St. Pius, Westerville St. Paul, and the Columbus parishes of St. Patrick, St. Christopher, Ss. Augustine and Gabriel, St. Joseph Cathedral, St. Cecilia, St. Leo Oratory, and Immaculate Conception. As a diocesan-sponsored event, more camp locations in and outside of Franklin County will be offered in the future. The next camp at Gahanna St. Matthew will be held in late July 2027.
