Girls Gather for the First Liturgy of the School Year

Girls Gather for the First Liturgy of the School Year

Traditionally at the start of the academic year, Catholic schools around the world celebrate a Mass of the Holy Spirit, a unique Mass where we come together in prayer asking for God to send His Holy Spirit to bless us and give us all that we need this year: wisdom, knowledge, good counsel, fortitude, piety, understanding and reverence.

At Farnborough Hill, we have been blessed over the years to gather in our large and beautiful Chapel where we raise our voices in song and prayer and this year, despite the socially-distanced challenges, we still wanted to mark this important and poignant event. Instead of meeting as a whole school, each Year Group bubble met in a separate venue and, although apart physically, we still came together in spirit to ask for the blessings of the Holy Spirit upon us and our school.

Each Year group (Year 7 to Upper Sixth) celebrated this Liturgy of the Holy Spirit with their classmates, Form Tutors, Heads of Year and one member of our Senior Leadership Team. The prayers and Gospel reading were the same across the School, but each Year Group had a personalised reflection given by a member of staff or pupil and included prayers from each Form. Some years chose pre-recorded music and others had pupils or staff playing the piano and/or strings, as singing and wind instruments are not currently possible. There is no doubt that this was a beautiful experience for each Year Group, especially for our new Year 7 pupils who gathered in the chapel for the first time.

Mrs Nelle Dalton, Chaplain