St Mary's Catholic Primary School

Prayer and Worship

Prayer

In its simplest form, prayer is defined as “talking to God.” It is a personal time of opening our hearts to our Heavenly Father and bringing everything in our hearts to Him. Through the Apostle Paul, God asked us to pray. Prayer can be a powerful force for change in our lives, and the importance of doing it on a daily basis should be instilled in our children.

Communication is the foundation for success in any relationship. When we communicate openly and freely with each other, we learn to know each other as individuals. This principle also applies to our relationship with God. By talking to God, we can learn more about who He is and what plan He has for us.

Please read on to see different examples of prayer at St Mary's

Remembrance
 

Each year on the 11th November, or the closest date, the whole school joins together for a special Remembrance assembly.  It is a time to spend time in prayer, praying for all those who have died and all families who have been affected by war in the past and present.  The whole school family come together to prayer for peace across the world. 

Service in Honour of Mary

During May, the whole school comes together to honour Mary.  the service is led by our Gift team.

 Ash Wednesday

The season of Lent begins with a special Ash Wednesday service for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 children in school.
Lent prepares us for and points us towards Easter.  It is a time when we think more about the Word of God and how we put this into action in our own lives. We increase our efforts to help others, particularly those worse off than ourselves, we take more time to pray and we might ‘give things up’ or look to others so that we can help and support those in need.
This year, the focus in school is on journeying through Lent. Children and staff throughout the school have been making Lenten Promises, written on footprints to symbolize
the journey. Lent promises have been focused on how:

  • We can Look to God – When we pray to God, we get to know Him more and become closer to Him. We can tell Him anything that is in our minds. It is also important to listen and hear what He wants to tell us.
  • We can Look to Ourselves - When we think about ourselves and how we behave, we can make good changes that help us get closer to God.
  • We can Look to Others – When we reach out to others and help them, we are doing what Jesus did when He was on earth and so get closer to God.

Stations of the Cross

Each year during Lent, our Kestrel Class lead the school in reflecting on the Stations of the Cross.

Advent Service 

During the Advent season we have a chance to share and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas through stories, songs and prayer.

Sacramental Offerings
 

At St Mary’s we wish to offer an opportunity for children and staff to come to understand the richness of Sacraments whilst making it clear that at best they are analogies to the Sacraments they seek to exhibit. 

This will be done following the methodology as presented below.

Each year we will have 5 ceremonies to help deepen our understanding of The Sacraments and our commitment to feed our spirit and live the best life we can.

 

The Eucharist (Holy Communion)
 
At St Mary’s we gather at Mass regularly as a whole school or in year groups as part of community gathered for weekday Mass on Friday morning. The children and staff who have made their First Holy Communion receive Jesus in the Consecrated Host and everyone else is encouraged to make a Spiritual Communion with each child and member of staff invited to receive a blessing at the time of administering Holy Communion.
 
Through the gathering as a community at Mass; hearing the Word of God and receiving Jesus in Holy Communion or Spiritual Communion we seek to experience Jesus’ Presence to us.
 
Reconciliation
 
The opportunity to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation is offered to those who are preparing for their first Holy Communion and regularly afterwards.
 
The elements that make up the Sacrament of Reconciliation are part of the life in St Mary’s.
 
When we make wrong choices we are encouraged to face up to them (examination of conscience); to be sorry (act of sorrow); decide to try not to repeat the bad choice and to make good choices (firm purpose of amendment); say sorry to those affected and to receive forgiveness (Reconciliation as an opportunity to experience mercy); to understand that bad choices not only affect me but also the greater community.
 
Reconciliation is part of the school behaviour and relationship policy and shared with all stakeholders.
 
Holy Orders
 
When a man chooses, and their choice is declared to be true by the Church, through the hands of the Bishop the priest receives Holy Orders. From this moment he no longer ministers in his own name but their own particular gifts or charisms are used to minister ‘in the person of Christ the Head’.

At the start of each academic year Year 6 pupils are invited to be leaders of the school values. They are therefore invited to live the school values in their lives so that in this way they can ‘minister’ them to rest of the school.

This offers a good opportunity to present the Sacrament of Holy Orders to the children and staff. Apart from the introduction given by the Priest Chaplain there follows a liturgy of commitment.

 

Baptism

 

Baptism is the first of seven sacraments. Its symbols of water and washing remind us of a kind of “birth”. Through Baptism, God adopts us as his children, sharing his life with us by the gift of sanctifying grace (a free gift to help us choose good, to choose eternal life). Our soul is changed and has an indelible mark on it as a consequence of Baptism.

For infants parents and Godparents speak on behalf of the child and make commitments. They are then responsible for nurturing the gift that is given to the baptised child until the child is able to take responsibility for this themselves.

This will be modelled in a ceremony at the end of the first half term when Year 6 promise to be Buddies to the new reception children. They will guide the new children sharing, modelling and living the school values.

 

Anointing of the Sick

 

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is one of the Sacraments of Healing; the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is the second one. It is a reminder to us that Jesus is always with us particularly when we are suffering. Jesus is the God Shepherd who never abandons us.

In St Mary’s we want to take this Sacrament into the world accompanying those who suffer in our community.

In a ceremony at the start of November, the ‘Gift Team’ make a commitment to reach out to agreed organisations during the year.

The gift team will decide before the ceremony on the charities that they want to support this year. They will make a commitment to remember those before us and those who are need of help.

 

Confirmation

 

Confirmation completes the Sacrament of Baptism in which the confirmed receives an outpouring of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. As with Baptism, in Confirmation a person’s soul is given an indelible mark (character) that enables him/her to spread and defend their Faith.

To model the Sacrament of Confirmation in a ceremony at the start of July, the year 3 children renew their promises as they move up on their journey to Kestrel class.