St Gregory’s students lead Chaplaincy Training Day
On Wednesday October 16th, the students and Lay Chaplain of Downside School, alongside a group of St Gregory’s students and Lay Chaplain, Matt Robinson, led a day dedicated to training and encouraging those involved with Chaplaincy in our Camino primary schools.
The Camino partnership is a local soft federation of Catholic schools within the Diocese of Clifton, consisting of seven primary schools, a Catholic Independent school and St Gregory’s secondary. We were hosted by Downside School and between us we led a carousel of workshops on ‘Prayer Spaces’, the Rosary and Lectio Divina to encourage the Chaplaincy groups to be leaders of faith back in their respective schools with a purpose and mission.
The day began with Mass in the Basilica of St Gregory the Great (Abbey Church), celebrated by Fr Michael Patey, with just over 100 students doing their best to fill the huge place of worship with their angelic voices. On the feast day of St Margaret Mary Alacoque, we heard about her strong personal relationship with Jesus and were encouraged to have this at the heart of who we are. Every school contributed to welcoming, reading, writing the bidding prayers or the offertory to ensure a joyous and inclusive celebration of Mass.
After lunch, our willing year 8 student volunteers, who are instrumental in Chaplaincy at St Gregory’s, assisted Mr Robinson, Lay Chaplain, in exploring the significance of colours, statues, religious artefacts and scripture for the creation of reflective and prayerful spaces.
Each of the seven primary schools who attended broke into groups to come up with a prayer space based on a particular theme given to them. They had a selection of items from our well-stocked travelling sacristy to choose from, resulting in some prayer corners worthy of any school reception area or classroom. It is hoped that all the students can go back to their schools and take the lead in ensuring the liturgical year is prayerfully captured all around their communities.
