Our Journey in Faith

 

Our Lady

Mary was a Jewish girl who lived in the city of Nazareth. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph. God had chosen her from among all the Jewish maidens to fulfil a very special purpose for Him.

God sent an angel to her with a message. Mary was afraid, but the angel explained to her that she was going to have a son, and his name was to be Jesus.

You can imagine Joseph's reaction when he found out Mary was pregnant.  An angel appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call Him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

As the time neared for the baby to be born, Mary and Joseph had to go to Bethlehem to pay their taxes. The only place for them to stay was in a stable, and it was there that Jesus, the Son of God, was born.

Our Lady lived a humble life as the Mother of Our Saviour, and as the wife of St. Joseph, She lived the most virtuous life, and accompanied Jesus all the way to Calvary.

 The Blessed Virgin Mary didn't die in the human way because she was exempt from original sin, and she was immaculate. She passed from this physical existence into the realm of the spirit as we recall in the feast of the Assumption.

She is the Queen of Heaven and the Queen of all Creation; her holiness surpasses the holiness of all the saints and angels put together. In her dignity of being the Mother of God, She is our advocate before Him and at the foot of the cross She was given to us in the person of John as our Mother. "Behold your mother". Her message is "Do whatever He tells you".

 

Feast Days of Our Lady

 

*February 2nd – Feast of the Purification

*February 11th – Our Lady of Lourdes

*March 25th – Feast of the Annunciation

*May – The Month of Our Lady

*May 13th – Our Lady of Fatima

*May 31st – The Visitation

*July 26th – Ss Joachim and Anne

*August 15th – Feast of the Assumption

*September 8th – Our Lady’s Birthday

*September 24th – Our Lady of Walsingham

*October – The month of the Holy Rosary

*December 18th – Immaculate conception

 

School Worship & Assemblies

 

Our Parish Priest and School Chaplin is Father Teddy O’Brien MSC. We have Mass in the school hall and family Masses at Princethorpe Chapel during the week and on a Sunday.  All children participate in the celebration of the Mass through prayer and music. Parents, families and Parishioners are warmly welcomed to join us on these occasions.

 Children say prayers at the beginning of the day, before and after lunch and at home time. Children also learn other prayers during class assemblies which are suited to their growing spirituality. We concentrate on traditional prayers. Please see the PowerPoint below which indicates which prayers are learnt in which Year group. Each child is given a prayer book on starting the school. We have a mission prayer, which the Liturgy Team created. 

Whole school assemblies on Mondays are usually linked to the Gospel on Sunday. 

We have regular class liturgies which are linked to Saints Feast Days or our Values and Virtues; in addition to learning and deepening in the Catholic Faith, the children also learn about other faiths through festivals and a World Faith Focus. Our values are important to us - having respect  and tolerance is taught explicitly to the children. 

We have a celebration assembly on a Friday where we celebrate the gifts and talents and uniqueness of the children in our school.

 

Religious Education

At school we follow the Birmingham Diocesan Strategy. It makes learning about our faith lively, interactive and relevant. We view religious education as a journey of faith formation involving every member of the school community, together with pupils families and the parish community. The Religious ethos is found across the whole curriculum and not just within the formal RE timetable. We have a multi-faith week where the children learn about the other major religions of the world. Click on the tab above to see our RE, RSE and Collective Worship polices.

 


Sacrament Preparation

Our Assemblies

Our Lady's Birthday

The Rosary

All Saints

Attentive and Discerning

Remembrance Day