Prayer and Liturgy
Prayer is a central part of school life at St. Mark’s and children experience prayer through many forms, for example; words, actions, symbols, music and drama.
Children are invited to pray privately and as a community, as prayer unites us as members of the Family of God.
At St. Mark’s the children learn a range of prayers and they pray many times during the school day for a range of purposes. Children at St. Mark’s also learn to write their own prayers and they often choose who or what they would like to pray for. Every class has a prayer bag and children share and write prayers at home with their families which they then bring in to school to share with their peers.
Our class prayer bags
Collective Worship and song in Year 3
Making prayer chains in Year 4
Year 5 Liturgy Leaders
Catholic Prayers
The children are also taught a range of traditional Catholic prayers. Please ready our Prayer Book below, which contains the prayers that children at St. Mark’s learn during their time here:
Staff Prayers
Staff are enthusiastically devoted to the mission of St. Mark’s and every Tuesday morning, all the staff at St. Mark’s gather together to share scripture, prayer and reflection.
This collective act of worship, always respectful of the diversity of staff backgrounds and beliefs, is a way of professing our shared values and reminds us of our common purpose.
Tuesday morning staff prayers
Collective Worship
Collective worship is an important part of school life.
Children and parents are invited to attend assemblies in which we promote the ‘Gospel Values’ and think about how we can put these values into practise in our everyday lives.
At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Christ. We hold community carol concerts and nativity productions, which are always a highlight in the school’s calendar.
At Easter we celebrate the risen Christ and remember the important events that occurred during Holy Week. We have community prayer services during Holy Week and an Easter production undertaken by Key Stage 2 pupils.
During the month of May we pray to Our Lady and remember our Mother Mary and we have an annual May Procession celebrating our Faith. Prayer focuses in each classroom reflect the liturgical year and are a very important part of our learning environments. We feel they make our school unique and special.
Advent Prayer Corner
The Wednesday Word
The Wednesday Word is a 21st Century mission for Catholic primary schools, and a simple mid-week habit of prayer and reflection on the Word of God for parishioners and Catholic school families. Linked to the celebration of Sunday Mass, this is a new way to share the Gospel and the teaching of the Catholic Church, rooting the partnership between home, school and parish in the Word of God.
Visit the Wednesday Word website
The Month of Mary
The month of May is dedicated to Our Blessed Lady, and it is the occasion for a moving tribute of faith and love which Catholics in every part of the world pay to the Queen of Heaven. During this month Christians, offer up to Mary from their hearts an especially loving homage of prayer and adoration. In this month, too, the benefits of God’s mercy come down to us from her throne in greater abundance.
To symbolise our adoration and love for Mary, we dedicated our class prayer tables to Mary.
Holy Rosary
The month of October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary, one of the best known of all Catholic devotions. October includes the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (October 7th). The best way to celebrate the month is, of course, to pray the Rosary.
At St. Mark’s, all of the children have worked hard to create a Holy Rosary class prayer table. This is used every day in October because the children pray a decade of the Holy Rosary every day in class during the month of October.
Rosary Club
Every lunch time, Mrs O’Shea leads ‘Rosary Club’. A quiet, reflective atmosphere is created through the use of a focus table, which changes according to the church’s seasons and candles. Each child has rosary beads and all the prayers are led by the children.
The Rosary is a prayer to remind us that Jesus loved us so much that he died on the cross for us.
The Rosary tells the story of Jesus’ life in four parts:
- The Joyful Mysteries
- The Sorrowful Mysteries
- The Glorious Mysteries
- The Luminous Mysteries
Each time the Rosary is prayed, the children focus on Jesus’ life as well as a special person or intention that they wish to pray for.
