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Corpus Christi Open Air Mass
What a wonderful morning of celebration. The Year 3 cluster of Blackpool schools gathered together at St Mary’s for a spectacular outdoor Mass. The children were so respectful and joined in enthusiastically. Our children completed some art work which was taken up with the Offertory- St Bernadette’s special responsibility. The children who have made their First Holy Communion were able to receive the Sacrament and all the children received a blessing.
First Holy Communions - May 2022
Congratulations to all the children who made their First Holy Communion on Saturday – Ethan, Jacob, Zachary, Max, Jessica, Annabel, Nancy and Beatrix. The children and their families joined together to celebrate in this special day. The children all looked radiant in their dresses, ties and sashes. Father Peter spoke warmly about the children’s journey to this point and thanked the catechists, teachers, parents and the children for attending the lessons and weekly Mass in the lead up to this celebration.
All the children received a communion medal as a keepsake during the Friday assembly and were all warmly congratulated by the whole School.
‘May their journey in faith continue.’
Saint Bernadette Soubirous, 1844-1879
Feast Day - April 16th
It’s hard to tell the truth sometimes. But it’s especially hard when no one else sees things quite the way you do.
Maybe Saint Bernadette’s story will help you out. She was just a young girl who saw something amazing and told the truth about it. Hardly anyone believed her at first, and people even made life difficult for her and her family because of what she said she saw. But Bernadette never backed down, and the truth she told has helped millions of people, even people who live today.
Bernadette’s life wasn’t easy to begin with. She and her family lived in poverty in a village in France called Lourdes. By the time she was 14, Bernadette had been sick so often that she hadn’t grown properly. She was the size of a much younger girl.
Bernadette’s life was terribly difficult, but she wasn’t a miserable girl. She had a deep, simple faith in God. She didn’t mind any of the work she had to do, whether it was helping her mother cook or taking care of her younger brothers and sisters. There was, though, one thing that bothered her. She hadn’t been able to attend school very often, and she didn’t know how to read. Because of that, she had never learned enough about her faith to be able to receive her first Communion. Bernadette wanted to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, but her days, which were full of hard work, left little time for learning.
Like other girls, Bernadette had many friends. She spent time with them in the countryside, playing and gathering wood for their families’ fireplaces and stoves. One cold February day, Bernadette was out with her sister and a friend, doing just that. They wandered along the river until they came to a spot where a large, shallow cave called a grotto had formed in the hilly bank. Bernadette’s sister and friend decided to take off their shoes and cross the stream.
Because she was so sickly, Bernadette knew her mother would be angry if she plunged her thin legs into the icy water, so she stayed behind. But after a few minutes, she grew tired of waiting for her companions to return. She took off her stockings and crossed the stream herself.
What happened then was very strange. The bushes that grew out of the grotto walls started blowing around as if they were being blown by a strong wind. Bernadette looked up. High above her in the grotto stood a girl. The girl was wearing a long white dress with a blue sash and a white veil. Yellow roses were at her feet, and she held a rosary. She nodded at Bernadette and then stretched out her arms.
Bernadette was afraid, of course, but it wasn’t the kind of fear that made her want to run away. She stayed where she was and knelt down. She reached into the pocket of her worn-out dress, found her own rosary, and started to pray with the girl. When she finished, the girl disappeared.
Bernadette didn’t know who or what she had seen. All she knew was that being there had made her feel happy and peaceful. On their way back to Lourdes, she told her sister and friend what had happened, and soon the whole village knew.
Over the next few weeks, Bernadette returned to the grotto and saw the beautiful girl several times. Each time she went, more people went with her. Although only Bernadette could see the girl in white, when the other villagers prayed with her in the grotto, they felt peaceful and happy too. Those who were sick even felt that God had healed them while they prayed.
During those moments in the grotto, the girl spoke to Bernadette only a few times. She told her that a pure, clear spring flowed under the rocks. She told her that people needed to be sorry for their sins. And near the end, the girl said one more thing: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
Bernadette had no idea what this meant. She repeated it to herself over and over on her way back to the village so she wouldn’t forget the strange, long words. When she told her parish priest what the girl had said, he was quite surprised.
The priest knew that what the mysterious girl had said meant that she was Mary, Jesus’ mother. The mysterious girl of the grotto had told Bernadette who she was. But it was not very common for people—especially poor little girls who couldn’t read—to think of Mary as the “immaculate conception,” a phrase that reminds us of how God saved Mary from sin even before she was born.
When Bernadette told people what the girl had said, it convinced many people that she hadn’t made her story up and that what she’d seen really had come from God. Not everyone believed her, though. Bernadette had to tell her story over and over again, sometimes to village and church leaders who weren’t very kind to her and her family.
Today, millions of people go to Lourdes every year, to the grotto where Bernadette saw Mary. They go to pray. They go to wash their sick bodies in the spring Mary told Bernadette about. They go to open their hearts to God, as Mary and Bernadette had.
And just think—all of this happened because a young girl named Bernadette told the truth!
From: Loyola Kids Books of Saints
Queen's Platinum Jubilee 2022
As part of our celebrations for the Queen, we worked together to create a class prayer. As our Head of State, we wanted to thank the Queen for her dedication to our country and the peace she displays. Congratulations on your 70 year reign, Queen Elizabeth II.
Prayers for the Queen
St Bernadette's Feast Day 2022
Our morning was spent learning about the life of St Bernadette and then we wrote about the lessons that we can learn from her: her service to God, her strong faith and her devotion to others. Some classes completed beautiful illustrations. The work, as always, is displayed in the corridor next to our St Bernadette's shrine for all to see.
In the afternoon, the Governors visited and joined in with the celebration, kindly contributing to a special treat of ice-cream for us all. It was lovely to be able to sit outside with the whole school sharing in the celebrations together and think about how our school is named after one of the most well-known, yet most humble, saints in Church history, who inspired many people by her simple faith and incredible life-story.
Whole School St Bernadette's Work
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St Bernadette's Feast Day
St Bernadette's Day
YR St Bernadette day
Y4 St Bernadette's Day 2022
Y6 St Bernadette Feast Day
Y2 St Bernadette's Day
Blackpool Family of Schools, Year 3 Mass
St Bernadette's Feast Day 2021
St. Bernadette's Feast Day - 2021
Blackpool Primary Schools' Lent Liturgy
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January 2021
In sadness, we report the passing of the fifth Bishop of The Diocese of Lancaster, Patrick O’Donoghue who passed away on 24th January. He had a huge influence on Catholic education in the Diocese and beyond as the author of ‘Fit for Mission? Schools’.
Please remember him in your prayers.
May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
Fr Robert Billing, his private secretary, has written a fitting tribute to Bishop O’Donoghue.
Seee the link below.
Spring Mass Times
ADVENT 2020
Online Music Advent Preparation
Prayer & Learning Resources for Home & School
Please see below a montage of appreciation from our Parishioners:
Wednesday Word
Wednesday Word - Update for Schools
Please click onto the link to view this week’s Wednesday Word
On Tuesday 30th June, we participated in a collaborated, streamed mass with multiple Catholic schools across Blackpool. You can watch the Mass by clicking the following link: Streamed Mass - Blackpool Schools.
Please take time to reflect and share the Stations of the Cross Powerpoint with your family.
Today marks the beginning of Holy week. It will be with a sad heart that we are not all in school together, celebrating this special time through our poignant class assemblies and the Stations of the Cross presentation. However, we can all take some time to reflect by watching the Easter Story together at home – The Easter Story Beginner’s Bible on You Tube.
Please remember all our Key Workers in your prayers, especially those in the NHS. Continue to acknowledge the service and great care they provide by remembering to ‘clap’ on Thursday night with your family. Please find comfort in knowing that Jesus is with us always through these troubled times.
Please find click here to download a PowerPoint reflection to share with your children at home. Through these troubled times, we should still remember that we are still on our journey through Lent. We pray that he guides us through the changes that we face and then bring us all back together here at St Bernadette’s and with our extended families.
See below a list of websites and information to support families
http://www.natre.org.uk/about-natre/free-resources-for-you-and-your-pupils/
http://www.kairosforum.org/prayer-reflection/
https://holyweek.pastoral.center/
https://www.tentenresources.co.uk/primary-subscription/prayers-for-home/daily-prayers-for-home/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL8R158Ujp4
https://www.cbcew.org.uk/home/events/the-god-who-speaks/word-at-home/
https://www.rpbooks.co.uk/stations-of-the-cross-then-and-now-free-reflections
https://www.tod.org.il/en/holy-city-vr/
https://cafod.org.uk/Pray/Prayer-resources/Coronavirusprayers
Collective Worship throughout School
Collective Worship
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Year 6 Prayer and Liturgy
During Prayer and Liturgy, children in Year 6 take turns to be a Prayer Leader. We come together to share the Gospel and examine how it relates to our own lives. Children discuss how the Scriptures are not just stories of the past but are signs of what God is doing here and now in our world.
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