This May saw two wonderful events in the Catholic Life of our academy.
On Friday 22nd of May we concluded our Rosary Rally, which we pray every May and October at St Edmund’s. We do one section (called a “decade” or “mystery” – which consists of one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, and one Glory Be) each day, and students lead this in a different language – usually one that is taught in school or spoken by our students and their families. This May we once again prayed in 20 different languages, concluding our prayers in Portuguese (the fourth Glorious Mystery – The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven) and then the final mystery, the Crowning of Mary as Queen of Heaven, was prayed in Latin, the universal language of the Church. The students, who have led this prayer, have been truly inspirational in the way they have shared their gift of language, and most importantly, their faith. A huge thank you to all who took part in leading this beautiful prayer. The languages in which we prayed were:
English, French, Spanish,Italian, Polish, Igbo, Irish,Lithuanian, Flemish, Malayalam, Tamil, Moldovan, Swedish, German, Romanian, Greek, Yoruba, Russian, Portuguese, and finishing in Latin, the universal language of the Church. A true reflection of the universality of the Church, and the beautifully inclusive and diverse nature of our Academy.
We were then doubly blessed by once more being part of the beautiful Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes. Three of our sixth form students, accompanied by St Edmund’s staff, joined up with students from St Thomas More Catholic school in Stoke, to form one of the many work teams who give up their half term to work in the Accuiel, helping our assisted pilgrims in many different ways. We could not have been prouder of our students as they showed a depth and level of love, compassion and service to all the pilgrims they assisted. Even before we had left for Lourdes, they had all shown great commitment to the fund raising, which has continued on our return so that next year’s year 12 students who go to Lourdes have something to start with. This in itself speaks volumes to the integrity and spirituality of our wonderful students. Thank you for making this such a special occasion!
May the Lord Jesus bless you, and His Blessed Mother keep you always in her love and prayers.
