Prayer and Liturgy
Prayer and Liturgy is an integral part of school life and central to the Catholic tradition.
We believe that Christian worship in a Catholic school names and celebrates God’s presence in our lives. It is concerned with giving glory, honour, praise and thanks to God. It is our loving response, in word and action, to God’s invitation to enter into relationship, made possible through the work of Jesus Christ and the witness of the Holy Spirit.
At St Mary's, we believe that God is present and active in all authentic human experience. We already have a graced life and worship is naming and celebrating this reality in the Christian tradition. God is reached through the world and adored within it. Creating a sacred space for worship is to create a space where the unity of God and creation is reverently symbolised and celebrated. Worship and the words and rituals we use should not sever us from the ordinary circumstances of our lives but rather unite us more closely to them.
- Worship remembers and celebrates the marvellous things God works in our lives. It celebrates God’s presence in our lives. Worship should not feel like an interruption from a different world. It is a spontaneous response to life.
- Collective Worship is concerned with giving glory, honour, praise and thanks to God. It is our loving response, in word and action, to God’s invitation to enter into relationship made possible through the work of Jesus Christ and the witness of the Holy Spirit.
- Worship is at the very heart of our school and reflects something special or separate from ordinary school activities.
Prayer may be an individual experience, or if it is an activity with others may form part of an act of worship.
All liturgies involve the praise, thanksgiving and adoration of God and are, therefore, acts of worship. However, not all worship will be liturgy as it may or may not include symbol and action.