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Chaplain's Welcome

Chaplaincy
“Dear young people, let us not be satisfied with a mediocre life. Be amazed by what is true and beautiful, what is of God!” – Pope Francis
My name is Sr. Marjorie and I am the Lay Chaplain to the school as well as being a member of the RE department. The Chaplaincy is also supported by a number of staff and pupils from across the school.
What is Chaplaincy?
Perhaps Chaplaincy can best be explained by describing it as – Growing Together in the Spirit of Christ’s Love. We believe that school is a holy place because Christ is at the heart of all we do and are and strive for at ST. PATRICK’S.
We aim to serve all the members of our school community by offering encouragement, support and friendship. We help to create and nurture the Christian Ethos of the school through the Celebration of the Eucharist, Liturgy and Prayer, at various times throughout the academic year, the school retreat programme. It is also to be found in the very ordinary, day to day running of the school by our witness and awareness of the Christian values of truth, respect, compassion and love. Ethos is not an easy thing to describe but it can be felt and seen throughout the school.
We celebrate Mass together regularly. The Opening of the school year mass is celebrated in our parish Chapel. We celebrate a Mass of Welcome for the Year 8, we hold a Mass of Remembrance in November and a Year twelve and fourteen Pre exam Mass. Throughout the year there are various liturgies, services of Reconciliation and assemblies. Our school oratory is open daily for pupils and staff, which contains a prayer book where intentions can be written to be prayed for by the whole school community during year group assemblies.
We encourage all to take a full and active role in the preparation of the prayer life of the school, particularly with animating the Liturgy as musicians, readers, and Eucharistic Ministers. A well-prepared liturgy helps others to pray and come closer to God. Those who help prepare the liturgy offer a unique service to the rest of the school community and can develop a deeper awareness of what it means to pray as the Church.
We value our parish links and very much appreciate the support and encouragement of the clergy. Fr. Greg Carville is our link Priest. Our desire is to continue and develop these links through our services of Reconciliation and various Masses and celebrations.
I hope you enjoy and find the following prayers and clips a positive source of prayer.
Blessings
Sr. Marjorie
Pause for Thought






Thank you

Thank you to all the pupils who contributed to the ‘Soup kitchen Appeal’
Your generosity and thoughtfulness are very much appreciated.
- Sr. Marjorie
The New Year
The beginning of a New Year is a wonderful time for stopping to reflect on your life. You may want to review the year that has just passed, and make plans for the one ahead. I hope you enjoy and take time to reflect using the following images and prayers as a guide for your personal prayer. God Bless- Sr. Marjorie
Prayer for a New Beginning Lord, At the beginning of this new day, I offer you my life. Come take my voice, may the words I speak be filled with encouragement and goodness. Come take my hands, may the work they create be generous and giving. Come take my feet, may the journeys I walk be led by your Spirit within. Come take my life Lord, for I love your goodness, your kindness and your leading. Amen. Today as the new month begins I hope for you wonderful things That a new page is turning And fresh times will come I wonder what this month will bring. I pray for your days to feel bright For your sleep to be sweet in the night For your health to be full And your dreams to come true May your heart feel happy and light. Prayer for Students Dear God, This is such an exciting time. Full of hope, full of dreams, full of life. A great chance to learn, to take risks and explore, To gain new skills and grow up on the inside. A safe place to meet friends Join in and have fun, Such times of excitement and joy lie ahead. My prayer for them is that you God, would hold them in your love. May they know right from wrong. I ask for your strong hand to lead the way, Yet still give them the freedom to fly. It is such a great age to embrace life, Keep them shining in the light, All the time! Follow and cover, lead and protect Set them free and hold them, close every day. You are a heavenly Father to them. I know you will hear all I pray. Amen.
Year 8 Retreat

http://www.stpatrickskeady.co.uk/news/year-8-retreat-a/?p=1
We here in St. Patrick’s are committed to enriching the life of everyone that passes through our school by living out the gospel values and seeing Jesus in each other. Our year 8 pupils were given the opportunity of a retreat experience. The had time outside the classroom to think and reflect. The ‘Siolta’ team came to the school to deliver the retreat. The theme chosen for the day was ‘Friendship’. The focus was to help them to develop and sustain friendships and to reflect on their progress so far in school as they journey to become the young people God created them to be. The pupils enjoyed the experience as you can see from their comments below.
‘Where there is faith, there is love; where there is love, there is peace; where there is peace, there is God; Where there is God, there is bliss’ – Sri Sathya
Year 8 retreat – pupil comments
It was good and I learned about other people
I enjoyed playing fruit bowl
The retreat was fun. I enjoyed the meditation, it was relaxing. It was a lot of fun working in teams and playing games
I enjoyed the retreat and they had some great team building exercises
I thought the retreat was very good and I would like to do it again
I had fun, met new people and learned more about God
The retreat was very calm and very relaxing
Best craic ever
I liked all the games
It was a nice day
I enjoyed spending time with my friends relaxing listening to the story and being able to write and colour
I thought the retreat was good. I liked all the fun activities
It was alright but I did not like sitting still for the long time
My experience at the retreat made me feel like I have lots of friends
It was fun with the games but overall I did not really enjoy it
I thought it was a nice interesting day
I really like the prayer with the candle in the middle with all of us around it
The retreat was good and educational
I liked the retreat and Bosco and Rachel were very helpful
I had a very good experience at the retreat, I thought it was very good and I enjoyed all the activities
I liked the retreat and would like more retreats in the future
I made new friends and had fun
My experience was some of it was fun and some of it was boring
I didn’t really like it
It was good fun and good craic – it made me think of other people
It was ok it would be better in the morning not during HE
Doing the bonding activities made a bond with others from other classes
It was not really that good and not much fun
I made lots of new friends and had lots of fun
Good thing was we got out of class and were with our friends we got to do fun stuff
It was alright it could have been more fun
The retreat was really good I had good fun it was 100/100
I liked the retreat, but it was not that necessary
It was fun and a good laugh
Making the towers was really fun
I liked making the tower out on newspaper and learning to work together
It got everybody up and doing something different
It was good because we worked on our team building The people doing the retreat with us were very nice and we got to do fun games
I liked working with others and playing the games
We got to experience different ways to follow our faith but at some instances it got a little boring
I learned how to be a good friend to God
The good thing was we got to be with our friends – the bad thing was our tower didn’t stand
Many Hearts

Jealous of the Angels
I share with you paricualarly those among who are grieving - the lyrics and the beautiful song "Jealous of the Angels "
for you to have a quiet moment to remember.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n67dSG35L4 and just sit back and reflect on good times with that person or persons.
+ light a candle.
Jealous of the Angels
I didn't know today would be our last Or that I'd have to say goodbye to you so fast I'm so numb, I can't feel anymore Prayin' you'd just walk back through that door And tell me that I was only dreamin' You're not really gone as long as I believe
There will be another angel Around the throne tonight Your love lives on inside of me, And I will hold on tight It's not my place to question, Only God knows why I'm just jealous of the angels Around the throne tonight You always made my troubles feel so small And you were always there to catch me when I'd fall In a world where heroes come and go Well God just took the only one I know So I'll hold you as close as I can Longing for the day, when I see your face again But until then
God must need another angel Around the throne tonight Your love lives on inside of me And I will hold on tight It's not my place to question Only God knows why I'm just jealous of the angels Around the throne tonight
Singing Halleluia, Halleluia, Halleluia.
I’m just jealous of the Angels Around the throne tonight.
We Remember Them
We Remember Them
In the rising of the sun and its going down
We Remember Them
In the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter
We Remember Them
In the opening of bud and in the rebirth of Spring
We Remember Them
In the blueness of the sky and in the warmth of Summer
We Remember Them
In the rustling of leaves and in the beauty of Autumn
We Remember Them
When we are weary and in need of strength
We Remember Them
When we are lost and sick at heart
We Remember Them
When we have joys and we yearn to share
We Remember Them
So long as we live, they too shall live,
We Remember Them
For they are now a part of us
As we remember them
Holy Souls

We commemorate the loved ones who are no longer with us at this time of the year. But we must not forget those who no one remembers any more. Pope Francis reminds us that “Remembering the dead, caring for their graves and prayers of suffrage, are witness of confident hope, rooted in the certainty that death is not the last word on human fate” and the “supreme destiny” of humans, the final destination, is life in Heaven. On the day the Church commemorates the dead, we remember “those who have loved us and have done good deeds for us”. “But today we are called to remember everyone, to remember everyone, even those who no one remembers. We remember the victims of war and violence; the many "little ones" of the world crushed by hunger and poverty. We remember the anonymous who rest in common graves. We remember all those killed on our roads, all those who have died at sea. We remember our brothers and sisters killed because they are Christians; and those who sacrificed their lives to serve others. We especially entrust to the Lord, those who have left over the last year.” – We will have our own special time of remembrance in school on Wednesday 8th November in our school oratory. We hope you join us.
May the following thoughts prayers, reflections and clips bring you comfort Blessings – Sr. Marjorie
Links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrEZYMsEy1U&sns=em Stand still – Take a few moments of quiet for yourself to listen to the work
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2Yxf0FC12E&sns=em All Saints day some of our great men and women who have gone before us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLGwUX8VExo&sns=em - All Souls Day is a holy day shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF0U0pVK0bk&sns=emet aside for honouring the dead. The day is primarily celebrated in the Catholic Church, but it is also celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox Church and a few other denominations of Christianity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF0U0pVK0bk&sns=em Seamus Heaney ‘Midterm Break’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5nDkIaHS24&sns=em - 6 minute reflection on All Hallows' Eve - Halloween - and its relationship to All Saints' Day







St Patrick's High School,
Middletown Rd, Keady,
Co Armagh, N Ireland BT60 3TH
T: 028 37 531393
E: info@stpatricks.keady.ni.sch.uk