Catholic Identity

2023 CES Ltd Theme

This year, the CES Ltd Diocesan theme for 2023  invites you to “Let the words you speak always be full of grace” which continues to draw on the 2022 theme of “Tell the Good News” in which we have been challenged to go out and share the good news of the Gospel. The theme comes from Colossians 4:6 and is drawn from a longer piece of scripture that encourages us to walk with wisdom and courage for the common good. Here we find an overarching concept for this theme which is Dialogue. 

To let your speech be full of grace and seasoned with salt is to speak the truth in love, by being mindful that words have the power to break or connect communities. "If there is one word that we should never tire of repeating, it is this: dialogue. We are called to promote a culture of dialogue by every possible means and thus to rebuild the fabric of society.” Pope Francis- Address upon receiving the Charlemagne Prize, May 6, 2016 

“Dialogue is born from a respectful attitude toward the other person, from a conviction that the other person has something good to say. It supposes that we can make room in our heart for their point of view, their opinion and their proposals. Dialogue entails a warm reception and not a preemptive condemnation. To dialogue, one must know how to lower the defenses, to open the doors of one’s home and to offer warmth.” (Pope Francis “On Heaven and Earth” 2013) 

St Brigid's Feast Day

We celebrated St Brigid's feast day on Wednesday 1st February. Children spent time in their classrooms learning about St Brigid and the importance she holds within the St Patrick's school. They also discussed and explored the locations of the Brigidine cross throughout our school. You will see Brigidine crosses in every classroom, our main entrance and on some school documents. 

Here is some information about St Brigid and the Brigidine cross:

St Brigid

Brigid of Kildare is a patroness of those who have a care for the earth, for justice and equality, for peace and reconciliation. She is a model for a contemplative life.

The feast of St. Brigid on 1st of February is a celebration of the wonderful springing back of the earth from its winter sleep in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the season when we celebrate new beginnings and new life on earth.

St Brigid's Cross (or Brigidine Cross)

Brigid’s symbol is the cross made from rushes. Woven by her from the green rushes that formed the ‘carpet’ on the floor of a chieftain’s house as he lay dying, she explained the life and death of Jesus. When he listened to her story, he asked to be baptised before he died. The tradition of weaving the Brigid’s cross is carried on throughout Ireland and in other parts of the world.

Brigidine Sisters use the cross as their emblem.