OUR FAITH
PRAYER
Holy One
Essence of Kindness
As we journey through this Advent Season
Inspire us to be bearers of love
through our messages of hope
our shared smiles
our generosity and forgiving hearts
our listening ears and words of understanding.
Help us to be living signs of your love dwelling amongst us.
Amen
We pray ...
for.....our Year 6 students who are in their final weeks of primary schooling, for our St Nicholas Community as we journey through the season of Advent and for those undergoing and recovering from surgery.
LITURGY NEWS
THE SEASON OF ADVENT – Sunday
This coming Sunday (7th December) marks the second week of Advent. Advent comes from the Latin word for an "arrival" or a "coming". Advent is the season when we remember the anticipation of Christ's first coming, and we pray for the return of Christ again. With the beginning of the season of Advent, we begin a new liturgical year. The Advent wreath is part of our long-standing Catholic tradition. The wreath is made of various evergreens, signifying continuous life. The four candles represent the four weeks of Advent. Three candles are purple and one is rose. The purple candles in particular symbolize the prayer, penance, and preparatory sacrifices and goods works undertaken at this time. The rose candle is lit on the third Sunday, Gaudete Sunday, when the priest also wears rose vestments at Mass; This is the Sunday of rejoicing, because the faithful have arrived at the midpoint of Advent, when their preparation is now half over and they are close to Christmas. The progressive lighting of the candles symbolizes the expectation and hope surrounding our Lord’s first coming into the world and the anticipation of His second coming.
Altar Servers- Thank You
A huge thank you to all our altar servers and to their parents for supporting our school and parish masses for this past year. It is a massive commitment and a great act of service to our school and parish community.
FAMILY MASS
Thank you to the students, families and teachers who attended our last Family Mass for 2023. We thank Fr Chris for presiding over the Mass and for making it such a special time for our families.
END OF YEAR MASS
St Nicholas End of Year Mass (Advanced Notice)
This year our End of Year Mass will be on Monday the 11th December. This Mass will be a Whole School Mass beginning at 9.30am with students to be dressed in full summer uniform. All parents, family members and friends are welcome to attend. At this Mass we will also acknowledge and farewell our Year 6 students.
CHRISTMAS JOY - MUFTI DAY
In support of the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal student will be able to wear mufti clothing on Friday 15th December. Gold coin donations will be collected.
ST NICHOLAS PARISH - CHRISTMAS EVE MASS - NATIVITY
Fr. Chris is inviting students to be a part of a Nativity play for Christmas Eve Family Mass, 6:00 pm start at St. Nicholas Church (Sunday, 24th December).
Please inform Miss Anna Maher via email (amaher1@arm.catholic.edu.au) before 6/12/2023 if your child would like to participate. Within the email please include your child's full name and the grade they are in.
On Sunday 24th December the students will need to arrive at St. Nicholas Church at 5:40 pm. We will meet on the paved area beside the Church (closest to Kmart Carpark).
NCEA Advent Resource
The National Catholic Educational Association is providing free Advent resources via their website. Resources include, research-based strategies, publications, websites, and tech tools for celebrating the season with students. It groups its resources in three categories: ‘For Teachers’, ‘For Families’ and ‘For Anyone’.
https://ncea.org/NCEA/NCEA/How_We_Serve/Resources/Advent/Advent_Resources.asp
WHY DO WE USE AN ADVENT WREATH?
The use of the wreath and candles during Advent are a longstanding Catholic tradition that was originally adopted by Christians in the Middle Ages as part of their spiritual preparation for Christmas. The wreath itself signifies continuous life as the circle has no beginning or end, the eternity of God, the immortality of the soul, and the everlasting life we find in Christ.
The candles each hold their own significance. The four candles represent the four weeks of Advent, and one candle is lit each Sunday. Three of the candles are purple because the purple signifies prayer, penance, and sacrifice. The Third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete (Rejoice or pink) Sunday. On this day we celebrate that our waiting for the birth of Jesus on Christmas day is almost over with a pink candle.
The first candle (purple) - symbolises hope.
The second candle (purple) - symbolises faith.
The third candle (pink) - symbolises joy.
The fourth candle (purple) - symbolises peace.
A white candle is placed in the middle of the wreath and lit on Christmas Eve. This candle is called the “Christ Candle” and represents the life of Christ. The color white is for purity—because Christ is our sinless, pure Savior.
