Catholic School ‘Mistakenly’ Sells Students Red Thongs For Mother’s Day

St. Anselm School, a private Catholic school, has apologized to the public after mistakenly selling roses with thongs to its young students for Mother’s Day. It recently held a sale in honor of the occasion, offering its pupils faux flowers that they could purchase and gift to their moms.

The mix-up has since left administrators of the school in Philadelphia embarrassed but then had provided laughs for the internet and a few parents. 

The school, which charges up to $4950 per year in tuition, allegedly has about 250 students between pre-kindergarten and eighth grade. While it’s unknown how the mix-up happened, it’s pointed out the city routinely has various street vendors and some e-commerce vendors that sell knock-off or bootleg sports jerseys.

A mother named Rachel Tremblay is one of the numerous who received her young daughter’s gift. 

A Facebook video showed Rachel and her husband uncovering the kinky underwear. “Open it,” she could be heard in the background speaking to her husband, who then slowly pulled the red, lacy undergarment out from the center of the rose. The husband exclaimed: “oh my God, I see it already. That’s hilarious.” Rachel joked back: “Thank you, St. Anselm.” 

The video captioned: “Here’s the flower St. Anselm Catholic School gave out to grade-schoolers for Mother Day” has received over 212K views. 

And in the comments, people found the mishap hilarious. One person wrote: “I’m so mad my daughter didn’t get me one. I ended up with a rock painted like a ladybug. How inconsiderate of her.” Another said: “Things sure have changed since I went there.” While a third opined: “I think this goes against all of their teachings, lol.” 

CBS Philly reported the school principal has issued a follow-up email to parents, saying: “The roses sold at our Mother’s Day plant sale were not the single faux flowers originally intended.”

It continued: “Instead, the item was a Valentine’s Day gift intended for adults. The administration will determine how the error occurred and take steps to prevent a further recurrence.” Ken Gavin, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, told Newsweek that the mix-up was an unfortunate mistake and that they apologized deeply. He added the ordeal remains under review by the school and parish administration to determine what happened.

Gavin further said there’s no evidence that these were intentionally made available, adding that “We sincerely regret any embarrassment and discomfort that was caused and wish all mothers in the community a Happy and Blessed Mother’s Day with hearts full of gratitude.”