The Last Round Up - well, for this school year, anyway, to mark the end of the academic year.
And so it was that the boys and girls from St Clare's school gathered in church for their end of term / year Mass. They were well supported by parents, governors and friends of the school.
The Mass, as usual, was a votive Mass of St Clare - her feast falling, as it does, during the school holidays. The theme permeating the Mass was one of Thanksgiving. The music was lively and reverent and the children sang with great gusto, as they customarily do.At the conclusion of the Mass before the general blessing, the whole congregation 'sang' a blessing over the girls and boys in Year 6 who depart the school for pastures new this year.
'The Beginning' referred to in the title, was the inauguration of a statue of our Blessed Lady. This statue of our Lady of Lourdes had been refurbished by Hilary Deane and the arbour in which she sits had been constructed by Peter Read & Rob Leigh - Janet & Sue provided the floral display. At the end of Mass the boys and girls et al processed behing the clergy to the new grotto where they prayed for their parents, the school and the parish. The statue was then blessed and now a place for prayer is available for the children.
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