Heavenly Father

We come before You with hearts filled with gratitude and awe

for a wonderful semester filled with great learning, deep faith, true charity and great joy.

We ask You to bless our school break and fill our hearts and minds with faith that moves mountains, compassion that heals wounds, wisdom to always know Your will

and put it into practice.

Thank you for all the St Martha’s Parents, Grandparents, Students, Staff Members and Parishioners: thank you for the beautiful impact everyone has on our community and beyond, through their kindness, their words of encouragement, their caring actions, their great generosity.

We pray that you will grant everyone a well-deserved rest. May these next two weeks be a time of joy-filled quality time with loved ones, enjoyment, fun, renewal, and an even deeper relationship with You.

Bless all families, O Lord.

Strengthen them with Your presence and fill them with Your peace.

May they continue to be beacons of light and hope, spreading Your love wherever they go.

In Your name we pray,

Amen.

Blessed Carlo Acutis

A very big thank-you to everyone who participated in the Blessed Carlo Acutis’ Canonisation Date Guessing Competition! Unfortunately, the Pope has not announced his Canonisation date yet. As soon as Blessed Carlo Acutis’ canonisation date is announced, we will let everyone know (via Compass and through our St Martha’s School Newsletter) who the winner/s of the competition are.

Here below is some further info about Carlo Acutis:

Carlo Acutis was born in London in 1991 and died at the age of fifteen on October 12 2006, after a short illness. His parents were Italian, and his father was a wealthy businessman.

Carlo’s parents moved back to Italy when Carlo was very young, and he lived the rest of his life in the city of Milan. Carlo’s parents didn’t go to church very often, but his mother says that from when he was very young, when they were near a church, Carlo would ask his mother to take him in to pay a visit to Jesus.

From a young age, Carlo knew that Jesus was in the tabernacle in the church, and waiting for Carlo.

When Carlo was seven years old, he asked to make his First Holy Communion and was allowed to do so with a special dispensation. From the day of his First Communion, Carlo went to Mass and communion every day, because he wanted to. He also prayed the rosary every day.

Carlo was a very happy, popular, bright boy. He also took great interest in the poor, and used to help them as much as he could.

On October 10 2020, Carlo was beatified (or declared ‘Blessed’) by the Catholic Church. This is the last stage before a person is canonised (or declared a ‘Saint’) by the Catholic Church. So now he is known as Blessed Carlo Acutis, and his feast day is on 12 October.

Pope Francis has recognised a second miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Carlo Acutis. In a decree on May 23, Pope Francis approved the miraculous healing of a 21-year-old girl from Costa Rica named Valeria Valverde who was near death after seriously injuring her head in a bicycle accident while studying in Florence in 2022. The doctors told Valeria’s family that she could die at any moment. Six days after the accident, Valeria’s mother went on a pilgrimage to Assisi to pray for the healing of her daughter at the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis, leaving a written note. On that same day, Valeria began to breathe on her own and on the following day, she recovered the use of her upper limbs and partly recovered her speech. On September 2, 2022, two months after her accident, Valeria went on a pilgrimage to Carlo Acutis’ tomb in Assisi with her mother to celebrate her complete healing.

In 2025, Blessed Carlo Acutis will be canonised (i.e. He will become Saint Carlo Acutis).

Carlo will be the first millennial Saint.

If you haven’t watched it yet, here is a video on Blessed Carlo Acutis that you might like to watch during the school holidays: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07dhucty9xo

Here is the website that Carlo created when he was a young boy, it contains many pieces of information about Eucharistic Miracles:

http://www.miracolieucaristici.org/en/Liste/list.html

I would like to invite everyone to please keep in our prayers all the children who will make their First Holy Communion in Term 3. Here are some videos on the Eucharist that you might like to watch during the school holidays:

https://www.sydneycatholic.org/eucharistic-resources/#readingone

Upcoming Family & Faith Initiatives

Thursday, 11 July at 7pm: Br Charbel Mary Francis FFI (one of our St Martha’s cousins) is going to be ordained at St Mary’s Cathedral. I know many of you have met Br Charbel at our online seminars, pilgrimages, workshops and Rosaries. Br Charbel’s Thanksgiving Mass will be celebrated on Saturday 13 July at 7pm at St Charbel’s Catholic Church in Punchbowl, and he will also celebrate Mass on Sunday 14 July at 10am at St Joachim’s Catholic Church in Lidcombe https://www.catholicweekly.com.au/sydney-deacons-to-become-priests/ All families (including children) are invited to attend Br Charbel’s Masses;
Friday, 12 July at 7pm at Canterbury Leagues Club: Parousia Fundraising Dinner with special guests Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers and Fr John Amsberry. If you’re interested in attending the Parousia Dinner, you’re warmly encouraged to buy the tickets by tonight at: https://store.parousiamedia.com/2024-parousia-fundraising-dinner-ticket/
Saturday 13 July at 9am: Women Retreat (Mass at 8am) in Strathfield https://www.trybooking.com/CSEBL
Tuesday 16 July at 4:15: Challenging Kids’ Workshop presented by Andrew Fuller, here is the link with the workshop’s details: https://events.humanitix.com/challenging-kids-and-challenging-kids-with-andrew-fuller-cool-subscriber-workshop-2?utm_medium=email&utm_source=active_campaign&utm_campaign=240624_fuller_workshop_non-cool+_non-attendees You can all register (for FREE). If you’d like to ask any questions that Andrew Fuller might answer during his upcoming workshop, please feel free to email Kirsten at: kirsten.y@cool.org
Tuesday 22 October: Men’s Health Night: All Fathers, Uncles, Grandfathers and male Friends are warmly invited: it will be a great night of fellowship and fun. The wonderful Fr Ben Saliba will also be presenting
Friday 29 November: Family Gingerbread House Making. This year, Advent will begin on Sunday 1 December

Thank You!

Many thanks to the whole St Martha’s Community (and to our Loving God) for a most wonderful semester filled with fun, social events, sport competitions, prayer, musical victories, beautiful Masses, great outreach opportunities (Mini Vinnies, Pope Francis Award Program, fundraising events, Vinnies’ Winter Appeal, P&F outstanding initiatives, etc).

Thanks so much to everyone for your constant, HUGE support and generosity for the whole St Martha’s School and Parish community and beyond!

Congratulations to all the children who have made their Confirmation.

Thank You Again!

Thank you with all my heart for the most beautiful surprise this past Monday!

I cannot express how incredibly grateful I am to Mrs Parsell, Mr Belcastro, Mrs Ronzini, Mrs M, Mrs Cordi, all Teachers, all Students and Families, for organising and praying the Rosary together. It has truly been the most precious gift!

Many thanks also from my husband Josh, our three kids and our baby girl.

Please be always assured of my continued prayers for all your intentions.

Wishing everyone a blessed school holiday, filled with rest, fun, laughs, prayer and a most wonderful quality time with your loved ones.

God Bless,

Mrs Elena Razzoli

Family Educator

National Tree Day

Strathfield Council