SANFORD —  As the littlest students  raised their voices in song, the man in the long black robe smiled and sat forward in his seat, to catch every nuance.

The youngsters were singing “Christmas Isn’t Christmas til it Happens in Your Heart.” The man listening so intently was the Roman Catholic bishop of Portland, Robert Deeley.

The bishop made a trip to St. Thomas School in Sanford on Wednesday. He heard selections from the  students’ upcoming Christmas concerts, and later was to make stops in every classroom of the Pre-kindergarten through grade 7 school.

“Very good,” he said as the youngest children wrapped up their selection. “Wonderful,” he said of another.

There were several more songs, from a snappy “Go Tell it On the Mountain,” to “Away in a Manger.” 

When students in the Select Choir lifted their voices to sing “Oh Holy Night,” the bishop quietly sang along.

There are 13 Catholic schools in Maine from Bangor to Sanford. Over the course of a year, Deeley makes his way to all of them, as often as he can.

Often, he said just before the concert Wednesday morning, there’s a question time as he visits classrooms. Youngsters are curious about his life. He’s often asked questions like whether he has a dog (no), a cat (no), and for those who wonder, no, he doesn’t like to fish.

After the music, students presented a big Christmas card they’d made, entitled “Jesus is the Reason for the Season.”

During the classroom visits, the bishop read to the pre-K and kindergarten students — “A Child Was Born: A First Nativity Book,” and “Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear.”

The diocese’s communications director, Dave Guthro, said the bishop  answered questions — like one from a fourth-grade student who wondered how St. Nicholas became Santa Claus, and how traditions like decorating Christmas trees evolved.

As part of their education, students at St. Thomas School and other Catholic schools in Maine have service projects. St. Thomas students have been collecting cereal for Sanford’s Backpack Program, support the Toys for Tots program through a ‘dress down day,’ and are preparing to host a bake sale to benefit  their sister school in Haiti.

Guthro said one service project was particularly touching on Wednesday, the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The second-grade students showed the bishop large boxes full of donated food and hygiene products that lined a wall of their classroom set to be sent to veterans overseas. 

Want to hear the songs the bishop heard, and more? St. Thomas’ Christmas concerts will be held 6 p.m. Dec. 12 and Dec. 13 at St. Ignatius Gym, 25 Riverside Ave. Pre-K to grade 2 students will perform at the Monday night concert, and students in grades 3-7 will perform on Tuesday night.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].