Mission and Religious Education

MRE Newsletter Term 3 Week 2

Mission and Religious Education

Thank you for Supporting our St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal

A huge thank you for your support of our 2026 St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal at the end of last term. We were overwhelmed by the generousity of our school community. Our school captain’s Alice and Miller presented Mrs Burton from St Vincent de Paul with your generous donations of food, personal hygiene items and quality pre-loved clothes and filled Mrs Burton’s Car.  We also raised $109.05 for St Vincent de Paul to use to help those in need this Winter.

Confirmation

On Friday 24 July Bishop Murphy visited St Michael’s School and Parish prior to the celebration of Confirmation at the 5.30pm Mass. Bishop Murphy and Father Damien shared afternoon tea with St Michael’s staff and visited each classroom and enjoyed chatting with the students. Both Bishop Murphy and Father Damien were impressed by all of our wonderful students and our classrooms. They were particularly impressed by the Confirmation candidates' knowledge of the Sacrament of Confirmation and about the Saint whose name they have taken in Confirmation. 

Congratulations to Hannah, Georgia, Alice, Jack, Kahlani, Joe, Lily, Miller, Evie and Thea on your Confirmation and on your prayerfulness and reverence during the Mass. It was a very beautiful celebration and an important occasion in the faith lives of these young people. 

Thank you to Bishop Murphy, Father Damien, Holly Murphy and everyone who contributed to the preparation and beautiful celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation.

A very big thank you to our fantastic Altar Servers, Alex and Ollie, for serving at this special Mass.

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. 

The schedule for classes at St Michael’s is:

K/1 - 10.30am - 11.30am 

2/3 - 12pm - 1pm 

4/5/6 - 2pm - 3pm 

Parents are invited to see the exhibition and listen to the presentation. Parents may choose to attend the same session as their child or the 4/5/6 session. If possible please contact the school on Monday 10 August to assist us with planning. Thank you

First Reconciliation

Please keep in your prayers Cydi, Coa, Cora-Jane, Rosie and Mila who are preparing for their First Reconciliation which will be celebrated at 12pm on Wednesday 12 August. All students in Year 2/3C and 2/3M will be present to support them and consolidate their learning about this sacrament of healing. 

Year 6 RE Test

Each year students in Year 6 sit the Year 6 RE Test. This test is used for diagnostic purposes to assess areas of strength in the RE Curriculum and areas that we need to focus on for improvement. This year Monday 10 August - Friday 21 August is the 2 week window set by Armidale Catholic Schools for students in Year 6 to sit the Year 6 RE Test. At St Michael’s students in Year 6 will sit the test in Week 5.

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.

Upcoming Feast Days

The Transfiguration - 6 August

On a mountain Jesus is transfigured shining dazzling white. In the presence of Peter, James and John he is revealed as the second person of the Blessed Trinity. 

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop - 8 August

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop is Australia’s first saint and a Patron Saint of Australia. Mary had a passion for helping others. Mary saw how children in Australia, particularly the poor, needed an education and with Father Julian Tennison Woods started the Sisters of St Joseph and their work was foundational for Catholic Education in Australia. The Sisters of St Joseph started teaching children in Manilla in 1904 in the original Church and we have benefited greatly from their legacy. A quote from Mary MacKillop that we try to emulate is “Never see a need without doing something about it.”

The Assumption - 15 August

On the Feast of the Assumption we celebrate Mary, the mother of Jesus, being assumed into Heaven - body and soul. The importance of Mary in our faith story is celebrated on this day which is a Holy Day of Obligation. A Holy Day of Obligation is one when Catholics are obliged to go to Mass. In Australia the Holy Days of Obligation are The Assumption, Christmas Day and each Sunday.

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