Diocesan inspection report said:
Pupils’ response to the present school prayer opportunities is outstanding, in terms of willingness to participate and a real sense of engagement in the life of the Spirit.’
Our Mission at St. Mary’s
Learning to live out our calling with compassion and love.
‘Christ has no body on earth but ours; ours are the hands through which He heals; ours are His eyes, His feet, His lips; ours are the hearts through which He loves.’
As part of our calling to carry out God’s work on earth, we seek to draw our inspiration from periods of worship and reflection. These spiritual moments are essential to build the strength needed to carry out our vocation in today’s world.
Collective Worship refers not only to whole school gatherings but to those acts of worship which take place in a number of different settings and groupings of people in and around the school:
Assembly
An assembly is a gathering of people. Strictly speaking, it is not a religious activity and is a means of communicating information to a group of people.
We take part in weekly assemblies where we reflect on the Sunday Gospel. We each write a mission task to show how we are going to live out our calling in relation to the Gospel reading.
Prayer and Liturgy
Liturgy is the worship lived and practiced by the Church. Liturgy encompasses all of the seasonal elements of the Church’s year (The Liturgical Year), the structure of daily prayer, specific rites such as the Funeral Mass and the celebration of the Sacraments. For schools, Liturgy is worship which incorporates elements of the rites and rituals, signs and symbols of the Church.
We conduct weekly worships in each classroom, with themes selected and planned by the children. Look at some examples of these below…
Prayer and Liturgy Gallery
We follow the four part structure of:
Mass
For Catholics, the Mass is central to practice of the faith. At Mass, the Last Supper is remembered but also recreated. Bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ. This belief (transubstantiation) is what distinguishes us from many other Christians. This sacrament is above all others because as members of the Church, “We receive the Body of Christ and are increasingly being transformed into the Body of Christ.”
Prayer
Deepen a personal relationship with God, prayer will help the pupils to become aware of God’s presence in their lives and of His love for them, by leading them to respond to Him.
Prayer Bags
We recently launched our wonderful prayer bags for children to take home each week and share in meaningful prayer and liturgies with their families. We ask that families try to link their prayer session to either something close to their hearts or the Liturgical Seasons.
Prayer and Liturgy Guidance
Amazing Examples of Home Liturgies
Year 1
Somdolma and Dougie
Year 2
Florence and Jack
Year 3
Jathusa and Sydney
Year 4
Elizabeth and Mason
Year 5
Janetta and Jeevan
Year 6
Kezia and Gab
Today marks the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes. We call to mind when Our Lady appeared to Bernadette, a little French girl, in the village of Lourdes in the south of France in 1858. Through this humble girl, Mary has enkindled within the church a great love of prayer and charity, especially service to the sick and the poor. Many people, especially the sick, travel to Lourdes as pilgrims asking for healing and comfort. Today, we think about those who are sick and have died. #prayerandliturgystm … See MoreSee Less
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Sunday marks the feast of Candlemas so today we have all taken part in our own class liturgies with the theme of 'light'.
We all brought candles in from home to be blessed with holy water and reflected on how we could be a light for all nations. #prayerandliturgystm … See MoreSee Less
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Today, we have joined with schools in our Diocese to launch the Jubilee Year 2025 – Pilgrims of Hope.
We all began our day exploring the theme of hope and what a Jubilee Year is for! We then joined the diocesan live stream where we joined as a community in prayer, hearing from Bishop Timothy and Archbishop Bernard on their thoughts for the Jubilee Year.
All year groups have reflected on a piece of scripture all about hope. The children did some thoughtful written work on their scripture and some of the children led us in a special liturgy dedicated to this scripture.
We also had great fun getting creative as each class has done a piece of artwork to create our own 'Holy Doors'.
Thank you to all the staff and children for their hard work and dedication.
'Let us celebrate the Jubilee Year with deep faith, lively hope and active charity.' (Pope Francis)
#restm #catholiclifestm #prayerandliturgystm … See MoreSee Less
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Inspirational work ! Thought provoking, thank you for sharing!