The Catholic Weekly 24 May 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 7 24, May, 2020 We understand Our #1 Goal is building Faith, Virtues and Character Tangara School for Girls Infants Girls & Boys Reception (4yr olds) to Year 1 Girls Year 2 to Year 12 77-97 Franklin Rd, Cherrybrook tangara.nsw.edu.au | 9680 4844 Redfield College Boys Year 2 to Year 12 855 Old Northern Rd, Dural redfield.nsw.edu.au | 9651 4066 Wollemi College B oys Year 2 to Year 12 4 Gipps St, Werrington wollemi.nsw.edu.au | 9833 0499 Montgrove College Infants Girls & Boys K to Year 1 Girls Year 2 to Year 12 140 Bringelly Rd, Orchard Hills montgrove.nsw.edu.au | 4736 5977 school by one of the Year 12 classes in gratitude for their time at school. Each year in May, Our Lady is crowned with a beautiful gold crown and dressed in a long blue cape. Students bring gifts of flowers to honour her and pray before her image. All the schools pray the rosary Students turn to Mary MARIAN DEVOTION is part of the fabric of life in Pared Schools. During May, a spe- cial emphasis is placed on showing veneration and love to Mary, our Blessed Mother. Students at Tangara School in Cherrybrook, Redfield College in Dural, Montgrove College in Orchard Hills and Wollemi College in Werring- ton are entrusted to Mary’s motherly care and protection. Montgrove, a girls’ school, start its day making a morning offering through the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immac- ulate Heart of Mary. Every classroom has an im- age of Our Lady and students are encouraged to greet her when they enter the room. This may be with a smile, a glance or a short prayer. At midday they pray the Angelus or Regina Caeli, re- membering Our Lady was always obedient to the will of God. In their virtues program, Our Lady is the model for all the virtues, especially humili- ty, purity and obedience. Stu- dents are taught about Mary’s apparitions at Lourdes and Fatima and the messages of praying the Rosary and mak- ing small sacrifices. Infants’ at Tangara, meanwhile, keep a small shrine to Our Lady in their playground. During May they place flowers in vases around the shrine, pray and sing hymns in Mary’s honour. Tangara’s chapel has a large carved stat- ue of Our Lady, gifted to the or part of it in the chapel be- fore school each morning. It’s optional, but during May the numbers attending increase.  James Burfitt, the Director of Formation at Wollemi Col- lege, said the boys are taught to honour Mary as Jesus’s mother and their mother. They are also taught to pray to her with love and affection and to have a great respect for her and their own mothers. During May, they are en- couraged to do more to help Mum at home and show her care, love, gratitude and re- spect.   Redfield College students gather around the lake at Redfield to pray in front of the Italian marble statue of Our Lady, gifted by one of the ear- ly Year 12 classes. This year they are keeping social distancing by walking around the grounds saying the rosary rather than their usual practice of visiting one of Our Lady’s Shrines during ¾ ¾ Monica Guy A Tangara student prays in the exquisitely decorated school chapel. A junior student, at right, prays at the Tangara Infants’ Shrine. her month. In a normal year, all schools take students on pilgrimage to visit a shrine or church dedicated to the moth- er of God. St Mary’s Cathedral in the city, the Shrine to Our Lady at Kenthurst Study Centre and Our Lady’s Shrine at Mulgoa are some of the venues that have been visited. Students make pilgrimages in class groups to pray the Rosary. Teaching students the im- portance of Pilgrimage and visiting Our Lady is part of the religious formation common to all Pared schools.  Pared students are encour- aged to go to Mary. When doing their work or sitting for exams, they are taught to pray to Our Lady Seat of Wisdom to aid themin their studies or for a special grace to concentrate on their work. Our Lady Help of Christians is implored if they are troubled in any way because she wants to help their every need and bring peace to their hearts. In recent months students and their families have prayed to Our Lady for the end to the current pandemic and for life to return to normal. Given the importance of Mary in the ethos of the schools it’s a natural step tomake. NEWS