SMOS Prayer Vigil Honors School Shooting Anniversary
October 25, 2023
SMOS Prayer Vigil Honors School Shooting Anniversary
Last night, St. Margaret of Scotland hosted an ecumenical Prayer Vigil in remembrance of the CVPA/Collegiate school shooting, which happened one year ago. The service, which was organized by the SMOS Youth Ministry and the Gun Sense: For the Common Good team, was widely attended by parishioners and school families, as well as members of the larger community. See below for press coverage of the event.
“We as a family are still processing our own trauma from what the kids experienced last year. It really was horrific, the things that they heard and the things that they saw have changed them and changed our family forever. My children will never not know the sound of an AR-15 being shot in the hallway right outside their door.”
Emily Schiltz, SMOS parishioner and parent of two Collegiate students – via St. Louis Public Radio
Tristen Rouse/St. Louis Public Radio – Community members hold a prayer vigil for the one-year anniversary of a shooting at a building shared by Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience on Tuesday at St. Margaret of Scotland Catholic Church in the Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis.Tristen Rouse/St. Louis Public Radio – LEFT: A man holds a candle during a prayer vigil for the one-year anniversary of a shooting at a building shared by Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience on Tuesday at St. Margaret of Scotland Catholic Church in the Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis. RIGHT: Two people embrace during the vigil.Tristen Rouse/St. Louis Public Radio – Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience student Molly Schiltz, left, and her mother, Emily, attend a prayer vigil for the one-year anniversary of a shooting at a building shared by Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and CSMB on Tuesday at St. Margaret of Scotland Catholic Church.Tristen Rouse/St. Louis Public Radio – A woman prays during a vigil for the one-year anniversary of a shooting at a building shared by Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience on Tuesday at St. Margaret of Scotland Catholic Church.Tristen Rouse/St. Louis Public Radio – LEFT: Gloria Reed attends a prayer vigil for the one-year anniversary of a shooting at a building shared by Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience on Tuesday at St. Margaret of Scotland Catholic Church in the Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis. RIGHT: A statue of a monk holding a baby at the church.Tristen Rouse/St. Louis Public Radio – Candles are lit from person to person during a prayer vigil for the one-year anniversary of a shooting at a building shared by Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience on Tuesday at St. Margaret of Scotland Catholic Church in the Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis.Tristen Rouse/St. Louis Public Radio – Kathy Petersen, center, attends a prayer vigil for the one-year anniversary of a shooting at a building shared by Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience on Tuesday at St. Margaret of Scotland Catholic Church in the Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis. Petersen is a member of the church’s task force on gun violence prevention.Tristen Rouse/St. Louis Public Radio – Community members hold a prayer vigil for the one-year anniversary of a school shooting at a building shared by Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience on Tuesday at St. Margaret of Scotland Catholic Church in the Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis.Laurie Skrivan/Post-Dispatch – Emily Thiele, right, a teacher in the Mehlville School District, holds a candle of hope alongside her husband, Michael, at a public, nondenominational prayer vigil on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, at St. Margaret of Scotland church in St. Louis on the one year anniversary of a shooting on the shared campus of Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and Collegiate School of Medicine & Bioscience in St. Louis. The 2022 shooting left two people dead and six wounded.Laurie Skrivan/Post-Dispatch – Molly Schiltz, 15, a sophomore at Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience lights a candle of hope alongside her mother, Emily, (right) at a public, non-denominational prayer vigil on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, at St. Margaret of Scotland church in St. Louis, on the one year anniversary of a shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience in St. Louis. The 2022 shooting at the two-school campus left two people dead and six wounded. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.comLaurie Skrivan/Post-Dispatch – “My granddaughter is a teacher there. I bought this t-shirt last year in support,” said John Merideth, who attends a public, non-denominational prayer vigil on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, at St. Margaret of Scotland church in St. Louis, on the one year anniversary of a shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience in St. Louis. The 2022 shooting at the two-school campus left two people dead and six wounded. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
