Our Faith
Year 5HG: KS2 Advent Service: We Wait In Joyful Hope
The children in years 3,4,5 and 6 celebrated Advent in a shared prayer service by collaborating online. To ensure that the collective worship was compliant with our covid restrictions each year group led a section of the service which the staff filmed and collated into one video. The film will be shared with our families and the community to enable others to join us in prayer and reflection as we prepare ourselves to meet Jesus at Christmas.
Year 6 began our service by welcoming everyone in a few of the different languages spoken in our community. We shared the theme of our prayer service, “Advent is a time, a season during which we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ both at Christmas and at the end of time.”
The school choir began by singing “Prepare ye the way of the Lord”. Followed by an extract from the book of Isaiah.
“Prepare a way for our God in the wilderness.
Make a straight path across the desert.
Let every valley be filled in.
Let every mountain and hill be levelled.
Then the glory of God will be made known,
And the whole human race will see it.”
A year 6 pupil continued, “Isaiah was an important prophet who was born about 765 years before Jesus. He was a skilful poet. The Church’s Advent readings from Isaiah look forward joyfully to the coming of the Promised One, the Messiah whom God would send and who would bring peace and justice on earth. Following this, the Y6 pupils shared more of the Prophet Isaiah’s encouragement when looking forward to the coming of the Messiah,
“When the Messiah comes: Everyone will sing and shout for gladness.
Everlasting joy will be seen on their faces. They will be happy forever, free from all sorrow and sadness. Isaiah gave the people hope. Someone great, a Messiah was coming. Someone who would change their world for the better. During Advent, we celebrate the end of a long dark night of waiting and the dawning of a new day, the dawning of the Lord’s coming.”
Year 3 led the next section and began by singing the hymn, “ Awake! Awake! For the Lord is Coming!” A Year 3 pupil shared, “Advent offers us the opportunity to leave our old ways behind. To be open to a new world, one in which all people are welcome and treated equally, a world in which we all respect and value each other and appreciate the beauty of God’s creation.
Another Year 3 pupil shared a reading from Isaiah chapter 58:
“God says. Be clear about what is right and what pleases me!
Putting on a miserable face does not impress me.
What brings joy is everything that brings freedom:”
Year 4 led the prayers of intercession and sang the response, “Come to us, O Emmanuel. Come to us, O Emmanuel Come and show us how to live.
Year 4 prayed for the following:
May Advent be a time when we become better followers of the Gospel, more courageous in standing up for justice?
For the church and all of God’s people. Christ came to proclaim the Good News to the World.
May we as Christians have the courage to answer his call to proclaim the Good News in our homes, our schools and our everyday lives.
For leaders of all Nations. That World leaders will uphold and respect the dignity of life and work to improve its quality for all people.
For ourselves; That we may be inspired by the brave example of Christians who are imprisoned or persecuted for their faith and support them with our prayers.
For people who campaign for justice and equal rights, and for those who work for peace.
May we support their brave efforts to heal injustice and reconcile differences and bitterness in countries and communities divided by fear and hatred.
For countries facing famine, flood, drought or any kind of disaster;
May we never pass by and ignore the troubles of our neighbour but do everything we can to provide for all our needs.
For an end to the careless destruction of our world and its resources.
That as caretakers of God’s creation we will look for and see the love of God reflected in the world around us and take responsibility for protecting all living creatures.
Year 6 then shared about the role of John the Baptist in helping to prepare the way for the Lord. And shared, “ John the Baptist is a familiar Advent figure. His words are intended to encourage us to turn back to God asking forgiveness for our mistakes as we prepare a path for the Lord. “ And Year 6 pupils acted out how John the Baptist advised people to prepare their lives to meet the Messiah.
Pupils then acted out the story of the Annunciation when the Angel Gabriel told Mary that she was to have a baby who will be called Jesus. And the pupils sang the Ave Maria.
Following this the pupils in Year 5 led prayers of intercession asking for God’s strength and help when getting ready to meet Jesus this Christmas so that we can think about what God may want to ask us to do, and like Mary, be ready. The pupils sang the response :
O Emmanuel come into our hearts
O Emmanuel we’re waiting for your light
O Emmanuel God is with us now
O, Emmanuel Emmanuel!
Then Year 3 led us in a reflection on how all our actions can let us bring peace at this time.
Year 5 drew the service to an end by singing the hymn, “ Fill Every Valley Up!”
You can join us in praying through this season of Advent by watching our video which will be shared on the school’s website in our Our Video Channel | St Philip Evans R.C. Primary School (stphilipevansprm.cardiff.sch.uk)
Year 5- Mass of Thanks Giving.
On Friday 8th October, Monsignor Maguire celebrated mass with our classes and pupils in Y3. This was extra special for the school community as Monsignor Maguire was the priest who established our parish and helped build St. Philip Evans Church. In his homily he talked to us about the early days of our Parish and how he had worked with some of our parents and grandparents to establish the school, church and parish.
Theme Of Our Mass
The theme of our Mass was how we are called to be God’s Special People. The children in Year 5 helped prepare the mass by writing the introduction, the prayers of the faithful and choosing the hymns.
Seona began the celebration of Mass by sharing our introduction, she said, “Welcome to our mass. At this time of year we thank God for the harvest and the gift of his creation. Today we are thinking about how Jesus call’s us all to be God’s special people. In our readings, we will hear what God wants us to do in our lives so that we are his special people. At this time, we are especially thinking about how we can be stewards of God’s creation and pray for those who dedicate their lives to protect God's creation. Today, we pray that God may walk beside them. We also pray that we may have the courage, hope and grace to be guardians of our common home in our own ways.”
We choose the hymns, Come now is the time of Worship, the Psalm 77 With clapping hands and happy sounds, Take Our Bread, Be Still for the Presence of the Lord and Never to Young To Preach The Gospel.
Prayers Of The Faithful
Leader: We pray for the Church and its leaders that they may recognise the gifts and talents of others to inspire everyone to live as God’s people for the good of the community and our common home.
Lord, in Your Mercy…
All: Hear our prayer
Reader: We pray for the world that all people will act with a spirit of wonder and gratitude for the beauty all around us and work with a sense of common responsibility for it.
Lord, in Your Mercy… All: Hear our prayer
Reader: We pray for those affected by the impact of climate change that they may be filled with hope.
Lord, in Your Mercy… All: Hear our prayer
Reader: For all families, we pray that they may reap the fruits of the care and concern they show in the home.
Lord, in Your Mercy… All: Hear our prayer
Reader: For those who are sick and worried, we pray that they may find comfort and peace in the love of those who care.
Lord, in Your Mercy… All: Hear our prayer
Reader: We join our prayers with Mary when we say, Hail Mary….
Priest: Almighty God, we bring our prayers and our lives before you, knowing that you desire to share your life with us. Hear us and be gracious in blessing us, as we make our prayer through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen
Our Collection For The Food Back- Faith In Action
As we thought about being thankful for everything in our lives we thought about how we could be God’s Special Lives and collected food items to be donated to the Food Bank. We offered these gifts to God in our Mass. This collection was organised by the Mini Vinnies in our class.
St Philip Evans – Brilliant Biographies
This week in year 5 we have been learning all about St Philip Evans. We have been researching his life using reliable sources and have used this research to create brilliant biographies about his life.
The Great Saint Philip Evans!
Who was St Philip Evans?
Have you ever thought about how St Philip Evans became a Saint? St Philip Evans was one of the greatest Saints, born in Monmouth in 1645. He was born on 6th July as a lovely little boy, he was very religious and he learnt to play Tennis and the Harp. Imagine trying to fit all that into your daily routine! Tennis was an early sport form, where all the rules aren’t the same as nowadays. His mother was Winnifred Morgan and his father was William Evans, he also had a Sister called Catherine Evans. St Philip Evans died on the 22nd January 1679.
What did Saint Philip Evans achieve in his life?
Saint Philip Evans studied in St. Omer, France to be a Jesuit priest. He loved preaching the Good News of God and his Faith-filled son – Jesus. Philip Evans loved to say and celebrate Mass and the Sacraments. He also preached in Latin Welsh and English! He spent a lot of time studying these languages.
Why was he arrested?
Sadly, St Philip Evans was arrested and executed for his beliefs. St Philip Evans was on his way to celebrate Mass in Latin at a house in Abergavenny, this was when he found that Soldiers were waiting for him to arrest him for breaking the law. (It was illegal to be Catholic in those days.) They took him to Cardiff Castle where he was imprisoned in the Black Tower. Months later, he was joined by another Catholic Priest named John Lloyd. “Friend and comfort he found in St John Lloyd! Also a Martyr b’lieving in the Lord!” During their time at Cardiff Castle, they used to play Tennis in the courtyard and Philip Evans would play the Harp beautifully and sing as often as he could.
How he is remembered.
Nowadays we can remember St Philip Evans by listening or playing the Harp, praying for him at St Philip Evans Church or School. We can also remember them (St Philip Evans and St John Lloyd) by the plaques on Crwys Road.
Fun fact
Recently bones have been found of St Philip Evans and St John Lloyd.
By Jacob
