Mission and Religious Education

MRE Newsletter Term 2 Week 10

Mission and Religious Education

St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal - Week 11 - Mufti Day Friday 3 July

Next week we are focusing on supporting the 2026 St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal. St Vincent de Paul provides essential help to people in need. This clip tells the story of David and how St Vincent de Paul helped him when he became homeless. 

We are supporting the work of St Vincent de Paul through:

• Prayer - we pray for those in need.
• We invite families to send in a pantry item during the week that is long lasting for St Vincent de Paul to give such as a can or packet of food, long life milk, teabags, sugar… and/or a warm item of clothing that you no longer want or need that will provide warmth for someone in need this winter eg  a pair of socks, a jumper…
• Wearing mufti (plain clothes) including a beanie on Friday 3 July and donating a gold coin

Religious Education Staff Development Day

Each year Catholic schools in the Diocese of Armidale engage in professional development around Religious Education and Spirituality. On Tuesday 21 July Father Damien will lead our Religious Education Professional Development Day focusing on the person of Jesus to understand him more fully and what his message and example means for us in our contemporary world.

Confirmation

Please keep in your prayers Thea, Evie, Miller, Lily, Joe, Kahlani, Jack, Alice, Georgia and Hannah, the students from St Michael’s School who are preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation. On Friday 24 July Bishop Murphy will visit St Michael’s School to talk with the Confirmation candidates and will confirm them later that afternoon at a special 5.30pm Mass.

The Angelus Prayer

Prayer is at the heart of our faith and Christian life, helping us to grow in relationship with God, ourselves, with one another and the whole of creation. At school we currently pray daily at the beginning and end of each day and before meals. We also pray at various other times, including during Religious Education lessons, Mass and liturgies. Commencing mid-Term 3 St Michael’s school will join with schools across the Diocese of Armidale to commence praying the Angelus at school in the middle of each day. We at St Michael’s are especially looking forward to receiving further Angelus resources from the Armidale Catholic School’s Office which will feature the artwork of Sienna White one of the ‘Mary Our Mother’ art competition prize winners and possibly other artworks from some of our other students. 

The Angelus is an ancient prayer that has been prayed for centuries, calling people to stop and remember God’s greatest gift of Jesus. It is founded in Scripture, specifically the events of The Annunciation, when the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she had been chosen to be the mother of God, Mary’s ‘Fiat’ acceptance of God’s Word and the incarnation. 

Angelus, is the Latin word for "angel". This refers directly to the prayer's opening line: "The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary". This opening line from Luke 1:26-38, explains that the entire devotion celebrates God's messenger announcing that God's Word would take human nature.

The Invitation: The ringing of the Angelus bell (often at 6 am, 12 pm, and 6 pm) is an invitation to pause, stop what we are doing, and pray.

The Symbolism of Three:

The bell rings in three sets of three.

This reminds us of the three "Hail Marys" in the prayer. More importantly, the three sets reflect the three main moments that made the Incarnation possible:

1. Announcement - God’s Word Announced The angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was to conceive and bear a son, Jesus.

The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.

R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

2. Fiat - God’s Word Accepted

Behold the handmaid of the Lord.

R. Be it done unto me according to thy word.

3. Incarnation - God’s Word Made Flesh

And the Word was made Flesh.

R. And dwelt among us.

At St Michael’s we will spend the first few weeks of Term 3 learning about The Angelus prayer, so that we will have a full and rich understanding of this important prayer from our faith tradition once we commence praying it in mid-Term 3. The Angelus will be prayed when students return to class after lunch (first break), at the start of Religious Education lessons. It is a call and response prayer. In the Angelus Prayer outlined below, the leader/s pray the words in plain font and others respond by praying the words in bold font. 

The Angelus Prayer

The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.

R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord.

R. Be it done unto me according to thy word.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen

*BOW/GENUFLECT*

And the Word was made Flesh.

R. And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord,

Thy grace into our hearts;

that, we to whom the Incarnation of Christ,

Thy Son, was made

known by the message of an Angel,

may by His Passion and Cross,

be brought to the glory of His Resurrection.

Through the same Christ our Lord.

Amen.

St Carlo Acutis Pilgrimage Around the Diocese of Armidale

The Saint Carlo Acutis travelling exhibition will be at St Michael’s School From Monday 10 August - Tuesday 11 August. Bishop Murphy wanted to make the millennial Saint Carlo Acutis accessible to the young people of our diocese to inspire faith and to turn their gaze toward God. He has purchased resources that make up a travelling exhibition of St Carlo Acutis including an actual relic.

The St Carlo Acutis travelling exhibition of life, works and relics began on October 12 2025 and continues to pilgrimage around the diocese to schools and parishes across the Diocese throughout 2026. The travelling exhibition will be set up at St Michael’s on Monday 10 August by the Immaculata community and will be viewed and form the focus for prayer on Tuesday 11 August.

Connecting With Our Parish

Parish Priest: Reverend Father Damien Locke, Parish Priest

Phone: 02 6785 1094 

Email: manillaparish@armidale.catholic.org.au

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StMichaelsParishManilla

Weekend Mass Times

We encourage all of our families to celebrate Sunday Mass with our parish.

Manilla Parish Mass Times 

1st Sunday of the month - Sunday 8.30am followed by morning tea

2nd, 3rd & 4th Sunday of the month - Saturday 5.00pm (5.30pm DST)

Attunga Mass Times 

2nd, 4th & 5th Sunday of the month - Sunday 12 noon

Manilla Parish Confession/Reconciliation/Penance Times 

30 minutes prior to weekend Masses or by appointment at any time with Fr Damien. 

If You Would Like To Be Involved In The Life Of The Parish

We encourage all of our families to be involved in the life of the Parish. There are many ways to be involved including:

• Altar Serving for those who have made their first Holy Communion
• Reading at Mass
• Taking up the Offertory Procession
• Visitations
• Odd Jobs

If you would like to be more involved in the life of our parish please contact Father Damien (02) 67851094 for further details.

Living Well, Learning Well 

Living Well Learning Well is a student support framework for Catholic Schools in the Armidale Diocese. The framework is based on a universal and unconditional positive regard for children and young people and supports faith, learning, wellbeing and positive behaviour domains.

St Michael’s School Rules For Living

St Michael’s School Rules For Living encompass those in the Living Well Learning Well Framework.

Parents As Partners

Armidale Catholic Schools work with Realtalk to offer families free premium access to resources to help navigate difficult areas children face, particularly in the digital world, from a catholic perspective in an increasingly complex world. SIGN UP FOR FREE ACCESS HERE

“Let Your Light Shine” support others to let their light shine and remember “We Shine Brighter Together”

Jacquelene Cronin

Assistant Principal - Mission