Macmillan Cake Sale

2nd October 2017Mrs D Ferris

The 6 form Chaplaincy Group help a great cake sale today in aid of Macmillan Coffee Morning. Students and staff brought in cakes and biscuit galore, many were home made by parents, pupils and staff. We had so many donations that the sale had to be held over both lunch times and break time.

We also had a huge chocolate cake, and for 50p you could guess the weight of the cake. The winner was Mrs Devi from the Technology Department, who guessed 3pound 5 ounces and the weight was 3 pound 10.

The six formers and staff worked very hard and successfully raise £143.67 well done to everyone who contributed in anyway. I am sure the money will contribute to the hard work the Macmillan Charity do in caring for people with cancer. Bless you.

Prayer Life

29th September 2017Mrs D Ferris

Prayer Life

There are many forms and ways to pray.

One of the ways our Lay Chaplain supports our staff is to pray for them every day. She puts their names on lolly sticks in a jar at the start of the year, then every day while she is in the Chapel praying for the day ahead, apart from praying for all the students and staff of St Edmunds, she takes three names out of the jar and especially pray for those people. She then sends them an email.

Many of them feel comforted by the prayers and send emails back with many messages of thanks.

Maybe we could all have prayer jars with the names of our loved ones in the jar or a box. Every day we could pray for at least 3 of them and then text them or even phone them to tell them you were thinking of them. How contagious would the prayers be?

Lightfever

29th September 2017Mrs D Ferris

Today we had our first Lightfever of this academic year. The students of St Edmund’s love Lightfever, they welcome the opportunity to come into the Chapel during lunchtime or tutor time to light a candle and say a quiet prayer quietly for their friends, family or themselves. All our welcome, sometimes members of staff come in to join us too.
We ask that each students that comes, bring a friend, sometimes students go back into the dinner hall and invite their friends into the Chapel.
After they have lit their candle, said a prayer and had some quiet reflection time, they often want to light another candle. We have music playing in the background from many artist including music by CJM and Matt Redman.
Lightfever is on the last Thursday of every month and is based on the ‘Pillar nights’ that take part in the Diocese. Invited people into your place of worship.

Macmillan Cake Sale

27th September 2017Mrs D Ferris

On Friday our 6 form and Chaplaincy Team will be holding a Macmillan Cake Sale. This Charity is close to many people’s hearts and we are kindly asking students and staff to bring in any cakes for sale. Also, parents could you please send you child into school with some extra money, 50p if possible.
There will also be an opportunity to guess the weight of the cake, this will be 50p a go, the winner gets a cake for Friday night tea!
There are now 2.5 million people in the UK living with cancer. By 2030, it will be 4 million people, and we want to be there for them all.
One in three of us will get cancer, and it will be one of the toughest things we’ll ever have to face. Our goal is to make sure no one faces cancer alone.
We provide medical, emotional, practical and financial support, as well as campaigning for better cancer care. And because cancer affects more than just those facing it, we’re there for friends and family too. We are Macmillan.

Thank you in advance for your support and generosity

Chaplaincy Commissioning Mass

27th September 2017Mrs D Ferris

Today 15 St Edmund’s students from St Edmund’s Chaplaincy team travelled to St Chad’s Cathedral, in Birmingham, along with other schools in the Diocese to attend the annual Chaplaincy Commissioning Mass.
Archbishop Bernard Longley being the main celebrant along with other priests from the Archdiocese. BCYS and Kenelm Trust led the music. Sinead Cullen Barrett of our Sixth-form Chaplaincy team gave a reading and two of our altar servers, Abigail Caron and Jessica Roberts, assisted the Archbishop and priests throughout the Mass.
Archbishop Bernard opened his homily by saying ‘Do not be afraid’ taken from the Gospel reading today. He explained to the students and congregation that he and the Lord understands that sometimes it can be hard to be different, to say you believe in God and thanked everyone for their commitment in making our schools a faithful caring example to others.
The Archbishop also spoke of the Bishops’ Synod in 2018 on ‘Youth, Faith and Discernment’ and asked us to listen to the words of Pope Francis , “So today, my friends, Jesus is inviting you, calling you, to leave your mark on life, to leave a mark on history, your own and that of many others as well.”
“So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven” taken from the Gospel of Luke.
During the Mass, Lay Chaplains of the Archdiocese were presented with the ‘Archdiocese of Birmingham Certificate of Lay Chaplaincy’ after 18 months of dedicated study. Mrs Ferris, our Lay Chaplain, received her certificate from the Archbishop. Mrs Ferris’s ministry to the community of St Edmund’s grows stronger and deeper. We are very proud of her richly deserved success.
All the students loved being part of the celebrations today. Mrs Hughes and Mrs Ferris are proud of our students for their commitment to Chaplaincy, the school and their faith.

 

Feast of St Peter and St Paul

4th July 2017Mrs D Ferris

ast week we celebrated the Feast of St Peter and St Paul with two Masses. As the students entered, they watched a video clip of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Fr Mark Crisp spoke to the school community about how the Catholic Church is the oldest institution and, with all the changes of power over the years, it is a blessing that it is still alive.

St Peter was the first disciple to be ordained as a priest and, if you were to trace a priest’s timeline of who ordained them, they would all trace back to St Peter and Jesus himself. St Paul was the saint who taught the Gospels to Christ himself.

 

Alleluia, Alleluia!

You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church.

And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it.

Alleluia!

Marian Grotto

12th June 2017Mrs D Ferris

 


The Peace Garden is gradually becoming a real haven of peace, tranquillity and prayer. Stations of the Cross housed in the cloister around the Peace Garden offer a constant reminder of Jesus’ sacrifice for the salvation of humankind. Recently the work on the Marian Grotto was completed. This feature is commonly referred to as “floating Mary”, as Our Lady appears to levitate against a rising wall of basalt stone-work.
The Mosaic of Jesus was made by the current Y10 students under the direction of Ms Mifflin. It adorns the north facing wall. It is a reminder that we should see the face of Christ in everyone we meet.

“>The Unity Tree and marian grotto

Unity Tree

12th June 2017Mrs D Ferris

The Unity Tree

The Unity Tree represents St Edmund’s Academy as a truly a Catholic academy in the sense of being universal and cohesive. Our community comprises of many world religions and cultures, all of which are valued.  The idea behind the Unity Tree is to engender this sense of belonging and unity in our core purpose; and to emphasise our collaboration with families, parishes and the wider religious community.

Marian Grotto

12th June 2017Mrs D Ferris

 

The Peace Garden is gradually becoming a real haven of peace, tranquillity and prayer. Stations of the Cross housed in the cloister around the Peace Garden offer a constant reminder of Jesus’ sacrifice for the salvation of humankind. Recently the work on the Marian Grotto was completed. This feature is commonly referred to as “floating Mary”, as Our Lady appears to levitate against a rising wall of basalt stone-work.

The Mosaic of Jesus was made by the current Y10 students under the direction of Ms Miffilin. It adorns the north facing wall. It is a reminder that we should see the face of Christ in everyone we meet.

The Pope’s request for a minutes silence for Peace

8th June 2017Mrs D Ferris

The Pope Requested a Minute Silence for Peace

Today our staff and students either had 1 minute of silent prayer for peace or said prayers for peace in their form time.

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis has appealed for prayers and international participation in the “One Minute for Peace” initiative to be held Thursday, 8 June, at 1:00 PM Rome time.

He said the initiative represents “a short moment of prayer on the recurrence of the meeting in the Vatican between me, the late Israeli President Peres, and the Palestinian President Abbas”.

Their encounter took place in the Vatican Gardens on 8 June 2014, during which the three men prayed together for peace.

The Holy Father said, “In our days, there is a great need to pray – Christians, Jews, and Muslims – for peace.”

His appeal came at the conclusion of his Wednesday General Audience in St. Peter’s Square.

 

(Devin Sean Watkins)