Collective Worship

I most ardently desire to
see you closely united to God in prayer and in all your actions.
Cornelia Connelly

Eucharist

‘The Eucharist is the Source and Summit of our Christian Life’. (CCC, 1324)

It is integral to the faith life of Mayfield School. During term time, we endeavour to offer a minimum of two Masses per week in the School Chapel, one of which fulfils the Sunday obligation. Boarders are expected to attend and participate in Sunday Mass. Mass in the School is also open to all members of the community who wish to attend. Wherever possible, students will fill the service roles of the Mass, for example: ushering, serving altar, reading, leading singing, and where appropriate, distributing Holy Communion.

The school endeavours to ensure sufficient members of staff are trained to lead a Service of Word and Communion in the event of a genuine emergency. However, a Service of Word and Communion can never replace the Holy Sacrifice of Mass.

Below is a recording of Mayfield's Schola Cantorum singing Ave Maria.

Prayer

Prayer is integral to life here at Mayfield School. Our prayer life follows the rhythm of the school day, as our liturgical practices follow the rhythm of the Church calendar.

It is our duty to offer reverent, diverse and appropriate prayer experiences, and to ensure enough time is devoted to prayer and worship in the timetable, to impress on everyone the importance of prayer.

The prayer life of the School, as much as possible, reflects the liturgical life of the Church. Care is taken to highlight and explain the various seasons, and to offer appropriate liturgies; for example, access is offered to the Stations of the Cross regularly during Lent. Throughout the year, common forms of prayer and devotion are made available to the students, to enable them to experience different ways of praying.

Prayer is offered in a number of ways:

Daily Morning Prayer

Starting the day with a morning prayer is important to the school community and students are expected to begin each day with prayer. This will either be done in tutor time, assembly or through Liturgy.

Tutors are given a range of resources to lead morning prayer with their tutor groups and students are encouraged to actively participate in this part of tutor time. One resource is a School Prayer Book, based on the Shorter Form of the Liturgy of the Hours. Another resource is daily prayer slides, which often contribute to a deeper understanding of Catholic Social Teaching. Students are also encouraged to write their own prayers and share their intentions in a prayerful and supportive environment.

For any staff, students or other members of the school community who wish to join, morning prayer is also said in the Chapel at 8.10am each morning.

Grace Before Meals

Students are encouraged to be thankful for the food that they eat, and in all dining rooms in the school Grace is displayed prominently.

Daily Evening Prayer

Prayer is said in the boarding houses each evening. Students collaborate closely with the Lay Chaplain and housemistress to create a wide range of resources that facilitate prayer. Each boarding house has a designated prayer space, developed through a joint effort between staff and students, which is regularly reviewed and updated.

Assemblies

Assemblies are occasions when the school comes together as a community in prayer and worship.  Assemblies are led by the Headmistress or a member of her Senior Team alongside the Heads of School and other members of staff wishing to contribute to this important aspect of school life.  Prefects take a strong lead in every assembly, notably leading prayer, sharing updates on what is happening in the world, and reminding us of our responsibility to put Catholic Social Teachings into practice.

Staff Briefing and Meetings

Staff briefing and whole school staff meetings begin with a time of prayer or reflection. This is led by staff members.

 

Chaplaincy Policy

Guide to Planning Prayer

 

Further Prayer Resources

Please find below links to websites which contain prayers and reflections, updated daily. These can be used to support our collective worship in school, or you might find them helpful with your personal, or your family prayer life.

If you are new to prayer, or are not sure where to begin, this resource from the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton is a wonderful introduction to prayer. This article is slightly more in depth, but well worth a read. Additionally, the Catholic 101 site is a wonderful resource for people new to, or wondering about, Catholicism.

The school prayer book, compiled by a team of students and staff, contains a host of familiar Catholic prayers, a directory to where you can find guidance on various issues in the Bible, a shortened version of the Liturgy of the Hours, with morning and evening prayer for the four weeks of the Psalter, as well as for the seasons of Advent, Lent and Easter. It also contains the Order of Mass, and the Rite of Exposition and Benediction. The hotlinks in the table of contents make the book very easy to navigate, and the correct week of the Psalter season is displayed on screens throughout the school.

Mayfield School Prayer Book

Pray as You Go: Pray As You Go is a daily prayer session, designed to go with you wherever you go, to help you pray whenever you find time, but particularly whilst travelling to and from work, study, etc. A new prayer session is produced every day of the working week and one session for the weekend. It is not a 'Thought for the Day', a sermon or a bible-study, but rather a framework for your own prayer. Lasting between ten and thirteen minutes, it combines music, scripture and some questions for reflection.

Taize - At the wellspring of faith: A daily dose of psalms, scripture and prayers of intercession, providing a gently structured format for collective worship, which you can tailor to be as long or as short as suits your needs.

Cafod Prayer Resources: While this resource isn’t updated daily, it does have a host of prayer and liturgy resources, focussing heavily on Catholic Social Teaching. It is well worth a browse, and there is an opportunity to join the mailing list for a weekly reflection based on Sunday’s Gospel, as well as ways to put your faith into action.

Society of the Holy Child Jesus - pray with us: This is a collection of prayers and reflections from the SHCJ- the order founded by Mother Cornelia Connelly. Not only does it include a link to the prayer to beatify Cornelia Connelly, it also contains numerous short (3-4 minutes) video reflections produced by members of the Society, with a new reflection added every month.

Do you have any resources you find helpful to your faith life? We’d love to hear about them, and to share them with the Mayfield community. Please email links to chaplain@mayfieldgirls.org. Also, if you’d like help with a certain type or style of prayer, or prayers on a certain subject or topic, please don’t hesitate to get in touch either.