For Our Catholic and ecumenical schools, Prayer and Worship provide an opportunity for students, staff and parents to celebrate their life and identity as members of the Church. Prayer and worship helps create a sense of purpose and identity and draw the school community into an understanding of our shared humanity, link us with the Church throughout the world, and invites us to share the Good News. Prayer, as the raising of the mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God, contributes to the faith growth of individuals and the building of Christian community. Schools draw on the richness of the Catholic tradition, the wider Christian tradition and their own particular charism to nurture the prayer life of the school. The Church invites the faithful to regular prayer: daily prayers; the Liturgy of the Hours; Sunday Eucharist; and the feasts of the Liturgical Year. Staff and students within a Catholic school should have opportunities to engage in prayer on a daily basis. In the course of their years in Catholic schools, students will experience a variety of formal and informal expressions of prayer, appropriate to their age and development. The Catechism of the Catholic Church identifies three expressions of prayer, namely: vocal prayer; meditation; and contemplative prayer. In vocal prayer a person, or a group, gives voice in an external way to the interior prayer of the heart following Jesus’ example of prayer to God. Meditation is a prayerful quest engaging thought, imagination, emotion and desire. This may include readings, reflection, journalling, silence and stillness. At the heart of contemplative prayer is the simple act of being with God, recognising in stillness and silence, God’s indwelling presence. The essential forms of prayer in the Christian tradition are: blessing and adoration; petition and intercession; thanksgiving and praise. All of these forms are present in the Mass. Sources of Christian prayer include Scriptures, Liturgy of the Church, the theological virtues of faith, hope and love, the created world, our relationships and life experiences. There are various environments and resources for prayer. Prayer may take place in many different contexts and settings. In celebrating a significant feast day or liturgical season in the life of the Church, it may be appropriate to gather for a prayerful school assembly.
Invite group to close their eyes and listen to the following piece of music and to allow their senses to soar with the cadences of the music or to regulate their breathing using a mantra such as “peace”; or “calm”; or “relax”; or just to listen to the lyrics. Listen: Play an appropriate piece of music such as Tomaso Albinoni’s Adagio in G minor (4 mins 40); or Aled Jones’ Deep Peace (3 mins 17); or Be Still (3 mins, 07); or You raise Me Up (4 mins Respond: Let us pray: God of the silences, Help us, when we wait here in the silence, to hear you whispering our name. We make this prayer in the name of the Spirit of Jesus, who walks with us always. Amen. Or: Let us offer each other a sign of peace as we leave today. Go: Let’s go now to our homes, leaving the troubles of the day behind and at peace with one another. (Extinguish Candle) An Example of a Two Minute PC Prayer: Gather and Prepare: Sound rain stick to call class to stillness and silence. Light candle when all are silent. Sound rain stick again. Listen: Inform class of the presence of a new student. Either give, or have the student, tell a little of themselves.