The Liturgical year

All through the year, the Church family celebrates the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We also celebrate feasts and saints. St Scholastica’s pupils, parents, and staff enjoy a school journey through the Church’s year.

Our entrance, hall, corridor, and classroom displays reflect the time of year in the Church’s calendar.

Ordinary Times

In Ordinary times we use green to represent life and growth. We continue to live each day in the presence of our Lord and follow St Scholastica’s model to worship God and do our best.

The Month of the Rosary – October

All children take home their own rosary bags to pray the rosary at home with their families. Each class prays the joyful, luminous, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries of the rosary throughout October. We remember we can ask Mary to pray for us.

November – The Month of Remembrance – including the celebration of ‘All Souls’

St Scholastica’s attend mass at our parish Church for All Souls Day and we remember those who sacrificed their lives during the war by taking a moment of silence. We remember that Jesus also sacrificed His life for us and that through Him we have eternal life.

THE SEASON OF ADVENT

Begins four Sundays before Christmas and ends on December 24.

Advent has a twofold character. It is the season to prepare for Christmas when Christ’s first coming is remembered, and it is the season when that remembrance directs the mind and heart to await Christ’s Second Coming at the end of time. For these two reasons, the season of Advent is a period for devout and joyful expectation.

We use purple to symbolise waiting and importance.

THE SEASON OF CHRISTMAS

Begins on Christmas day and ends on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Christmas is a season, not a day. This is difficult to realise since the world wants to ‘get back to normal’ long before we have arrived at the last day of Christmas: the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. It is a season of true joy when we celebrate that ‘God-is-with-us’ – Emmanuel! The colour and vibrancy of our Christmas celebrations should inform a very deep part of ourselves that something has happened, that Christ is born, and the world will never be the same again. The Word was made flesh and lived among us. (John 1:14)

We use white and gold to symbolise true joy and triumph.

Feast Day of St Scholastica February 10th

We come together to learn more about our patron saint. We showcase our gifts at St Scholastica’s Got Talent.

LENT

Begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Thursday in the evening – approximately 6 weeks.

In the Christian Year, Lent precedes and prepares for Easter. It is a penitential season and a time of spiritual growth and a time for discerning and doing good. Traditionally we give more time to prayer, fasting and almsgiving (money given to the ‘poor’ or good causes). This helps us to say ‘Yes’ to God’s will and ‘No’ to our selfish ways in order to become better followers of Jesus. The season begins by recalling the 40 days Jesus fasted in the desert and prepared to proclaim the Good News.  In the Northern Hemisphere, Lent begins in winter.  But when the 40 days are over, we know that the warmth and new life of spring are surely coming.

We use purple to symbolise penance.

HOLY WEEK

For the Church, Holy Week is the ‘greatest week’ during which the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus is remembered in special celebrations.

On PASSION SUNDAY which is sometimes called PALM SUNDAY

(because we bless palms and we hear the reading of the passion of Jesus), Christians celebrate Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem to face his suffering and death.

If this day is remembered in school then palms and other spring branches may be added to the Lenten display.

Pentecost

50 days (7 weeks) after Easter Sunday.

Pentecost is a Greek word meaning fiftieth. The Jewish ‘feast of weeks’ was held fifty days after the beginning of the grain harvest. It was a thanksgiving feast to celebrate the end of the harvest and to commemorate the day God gave the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. Je

sus made it clear to his disciples that it was important that they carry on his mission after he was gone. He promised he would give them the strength of his Spirit to do this. At Pentecost, the Church celebrates the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise that the Holy Spirit will guide and help his disciples to understand all that he has taught them. It is sometimes called the ‘birthday’ of the Church.

We use red because it symbolises royalty, fire, and martyrdom.

The Crowning of our Lady – May

Mary the Mother of God has a special place in the Church’s seasons and feasts. For the Church, May is the month of Mary and in October Catholics are encouraged to pray the Rosary. There are also special feasts throughout the year and many local traditions and celebrations throughout the world.

Feast of St Peter and Paul

We attend mass at our parish church.