St Gregory’s hosts s Jubilee ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ Celebration Day
On Friday 13th June, feeder primary schools of St Gregory’s from the Camino Partnership gathered together at the college for a day celebrating the Jubilee and how the theme of Hope can become a part of our lives.
Upon arrival the children were mixed into six separate groups so that they could share the day with pupils from across the partnership and bring the riches of their own school to discussions and activities.
Headteacher, Mrs George and school Chaplain, Mr Robinson opened the day in prayer, encouraging each person present to follow the words of Pope Francis by ‘letting hope fill our days’. Instrumental to the success of the celebration would be young leaders from both St Gregory’s and Downside School, who took the lead on workshops, prayer and leading groups.
It was so encouraging to hear afterwards from those students about how much they got out of the event, Abi in year 8 of St Gregory’s said “I really enjoyed being the group leader and leading the children around our school to participate in the trail demonstrating hope, which was our key focus for the day. It was great fun!”. Both Antonia and Oliwia, members of St Gregory’s Chaplaincy Team, spoke about how much they “loved taking care of younger children and being in a ‘teacher’ role for the day”.
Our aim for the day was for pupils, many who are heavily involved in Chaplaincy in their respective schools, to be spiritually nourished in this jubilee of hope, to create a collaborative piece of artwork capturing HOPE, and to be inspired to disciples of hope today. Our big plan for the artwork involved creating a collage of mosaic tiles that would spell the word hope.
We may have been somewhat ambitious in our expectations of how much could be achieved in the workshops on the day, but students of St Gregory’s will finish it off in the coming weeks. Charlotte, who was one of those leading the art workshop told us, “I really enjoyed helping the children produce their tiles to spell HOPE on boards, I then assisted with creating the collage. It was lovely to see all their work come together, even if at the moment it spells ‘HE’!”. Malaya was also keen to be a part of leading art and shared, “The Jubilee Day was really fun and interesting. When we helped with the artwork, it was great to see so many smiling faces keen to get involved. They listened carefully and were amazing at creating tiles in the jubilee colours that reflected their individuality.”.
Other parts of the day involved Lectio Divina led by the Chaplain of Downside School, Paul Andrewartha, and a group of Chaplaincy pupils. Our primary school children gathered in the school Chapel for this workshop and were led by Downside pupils through several stations that broke apart hope in scripture. Everyone was invited to find their echoes of hope and share them with one another at the end of the time of prayer. Also part of the day was a pilgrim trail that took groups to different parts of the school site to fill in pilgrim passports. Each area focused on a different Catholic Social Teaching principle and challenged pupils to look for hope in their school, their family and friends, community and the world.
Days such as theses throw up so many moments that cannot be captured in words or photos – seeing pupils come together in play, forming new bonds and friendships, recognising what they brought to one another – there were some truly special parts of a special day. We concluded with a liturgy bringing us all together as one with our artwork and in song and prayer.
Year 8 students enjoy retreat days at ancient pilgrimage site
Recently we have taken all of our year 8’s on their second whole year group retreat day to the ancient pilgrimage site of Glastonbury. In this Jubilee year, pilgrims of hope, it was all the more poignant to break apart the importance of our own call to be witnesses of hope to those who hear our voice and see the road we walk. One of the gracious parishioners of the shrine parish, Maggy, spoke to the students each day about the history of Glastonbury as a place of pilgrimage, including the great legends around Jesus and Joseph of Arimathea visiting the town.
Our workshop focused on refugees and the journeys they are forced to undertake. By taking part in a role pray activity, our students were able to see with fresh eyes and a new perspective that plight of those who seek hope in foreign lands. We also walked in the footsteps of so many before us ascending the steep climb to the top of the Tor and the sight at which the last Abbott of Glastonbury Blessed Richard Whiting and companions were martyred for their faith. I call it a steep gradient, but the vast majority of our students made it look incredibly easy, and even those who didn’t appreciate the ascent could marvel at the worthwhile view from the top. Maybe next year, we should heed the message of pilgrimage walks as the method of journeying to the town itself, as on two out of the three days we suffered bus breakdowns!
St Gregory’s hosts parish Corpus Christi Procession
“Let us also celebrate with particular devotion the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, with its traditional procession. Our faith in the God who took flesh in order to become our companion along the way needs to be everywhere proclaimed, especially in our streets and homes, as an expression of our grateful love and as an inexhaustible source of blessings." (Pope St John Paul II)
On the great solemnity of Corpus Christi, St Gregory’s were honoured to play hosts to our local parish Corpus Christi procession in the grounds of the college. Local parish priest, Fr Bill, OSM, was keen to reintroduce the custom of a procession in the area for the occasion and asked if we would host the devotion in the afternoon of Sunday June 22nd. Corpus Christi processions helps us to see our life as a pilgrimage to heaven, nourished by Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. When the earliest recorded Corpus Christi procession was instituted at Cologne, Germany in the 13th Century, the concept of transferring the reserved Blessed Sacrament with ceremonial honour was already a long established custom. The Cologne procession went out into the streets from the Cathedral and out into the streets of the city becoming an established practice for centuries to come.
The procession of the Blessed Sacrament out into the streets is rich in meaning. It expresses in a powerful way the truth that the Word made flesh has come to dwell among us (Jn 1:14), to be present in all parts of our lives. It is a special reminder that the Lord wishes to be present with all his people and sanctify them in their daily work and family lives. We were delighted to see many representatives of the parishes of Bath as well as the staff and students of our college who processed in song and prayer behind Fr Bill and the Blessed Sacrament on a short journey through the grounds.
We may not have gone out into the streets, but Fr Bill reminded us of our Christian vocation to take the Lord out into the streets through our missionary work as followers of Christ. Finally, Just as there is much joy in praying and singing together, so too gathering afterwards over tea and biscuits many a lovely conversation and laughter was shared between those who attended.
“In the humble signs of bread and wine, changed into the body and blood, Christ walks beside us as our strength and our food for the journey, and he enables us to become, for everyone, witnesses of hope”
(Ecclesia De Eucharistia, 62, Pope St John Paul II)
