700 East Anglia pupils attend Annual Schools Mass

Each year, schools from across the diocese gather together at the Cathedral of St John the Baptist for the celebration of the Annual Schools Mass. This year, almost 700 pupils represented each of our 28 diocesan schools. Andy Stone and Joshua Clovis report.

It was a wonderful occasion and a delight to see so many young people celebrating their faith and enjoying the special sense of being part of God’s family here in the Diocese of East Anglia during the celebration of Mass presided over by Bishop Peter Collins. 

This year, the Mass was organised by the schools of the Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Multi-Academy Trust on behalf of all the schools across the diocese. Several of the primary schools in the Trust have been participating in the Schools Singing Programme, a national venture to encourage and facilitate high quality singing in schools making use of professional singing tutors. Over 100 pupils from St Mary’s and St Pancras schools in Ipswich, St Felix school in Haverhill and St Laurence Primary School in Cambridge formed the choir for the Mass and led the singing. The Schools Singing Programme is going from strength to strength in our diocese and the sessions are delivered weekly by professional singing tutor Naomi McLeod Jones who travels to each of the four schools every week to teach the pupils.

Diocesan Director of Music, David Grealy, oversees the programme and is seeking to expand it to other schools across the diocese, including secondary schools, in the coming year. “It was wonderful to see and hear so many pupils in full voice at the cathedral” David says. “Singing is not only good for musical development; it encourages literacy and allows children to gain confidence by giving them the opportunity to perform in public. Naomi has been doing fantastic work in all four schools and we have seen the fruits of that in today’s Mass.”

The Mass this year fell on the feast day of St Vincent de Paul. Many parishioners will be aware of the work of the St Vincent de Paul Society in their parishes, helping those in need for many years. Most of our primary schools run ‘mini-Vinnies’ groups which carry out fundraising projects and put their understanding of Catholic Social Teaching into practice and our secondary age pupils are also very involved in practical initiatives to tackle poverty, disadvantage and injustice.

With the help of the national St Vincent de Paul Society we were able to produce a beautifully illustrated prayer card which each member of the congregation received and copies of which were produced for every pupil and every member of staff in our diocesan schools. In addition, the School Service presented each school with the gift of a wooden icon of St Vincent de Paul to take back to their school with them.

During his homily, Bishop Peter spoke to the students in attendance about St Vincent de Paul and the St Vincent de Paul Society, the great work they do and how the society came to be. After this, he addressed the students directly, saying: “Now, I’m going to ask you to commit to something. I am speaking to you as representatives of your schools. We couldn’t gather all of you together, so you are here to represent your school. When you go back to your schools, will you take back a message from me to your fellow pupils? I want you to ask them, as I am asking you now: Will you play your part in being servants of the Lord, wherever you are, by following the example of St Vincent and doing all that you can to attend to the needs of the poor? First of all, will you do that yourselves? Then afterwards, when you return to your school, will you ask your fellow pupils on my behalf: Will they become servants of the poor? Will you do that?” The students responded in unison with a loud “Yes.”

Bishop Peter finished, saying: “Don’t forget your homework: learn as much as you can about the life and ministry of St Vincent de Paul.” 

It was a truly wonderful celebration and our thanks to the Our Lady of Walsingham Trust schools for their support. Trust CEO Flavio Vettese said “the singing programme delivered by David and Naomi has allowed children from across our trust schools to gain valuable skills and experiences. The quality of the singing and the joy that the programme has delivered is immeasurable. We are also delighted that Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Trust has played a significant part in organising this years schools Mass”.

See the full photo gallery below, with photos by Michal and Tobi, Y8, Notre Dame, at the end.

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