Our Patronal Feast in 2020 was unusual for two reasons: the COVID restrictions prevented our customary celebrations and it was the first time that our feast day has fallen on a weekend!
As I am sure you know by now, no challenge holds us back at Turnbull and so we celebrated the Vigil of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and joined together through the miracle (!) of Microsoft Teams.
The day began with a service that was prepared by the S6 Caritas Class, following the theme of Catholic Education Week; Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life. Staff and students prayed together from their classrooms as the service was delivered through the smart board. The Caritas pupils challenged us to reflect on this unique claim of Jesus and our fidelity to following him as the only way to the Father and Truth incarnate.
To conclude, we renewed our Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary that was first made by Archbishop Tartaglia during our 40th anniversary and the centenary of the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima. His Grace kindly sent a video greeting and reflection and imparted his blessing on our School community. We were also thrilled to receive a lovely video message from the young people of St Matthew’s Primary school who were so articulate and kind. One day, they will be celebrating our Patronal Feast Day!
Period three, the Caritas class led the recitation of the Holy Rosary from different locations around the school where we have images and statues of Our Lady.
Last period all pupils engaged in a fun, inter-house quiz that was prepared by the Caritas pupils and as I type, Mr Cuthbertson is tallying the scores to determine this year’s winner.
As we raise our hearts to God, we reach out our hands to our neighbour and this year was the first year that we have collected baby clothes for the Cardinal Winning Pro-Life Initiative who help young families who are struggling.
