RE News

Parish Masses on Wednesdays

Usually at 10am each week classes are rostered to attend mass with the Parishioners. Unfortunately classes will not be attending at this time, inline with the recent COVID-19 guidelines from CE.

Altar servers

We are still looking for additional altar servers to prepare for weekend and school Masses. Please be in touch if you and your child are interested in them being involved. If they have made their First Eucharist in the Catholic Church they are eligible to serve. It is a beautiful way to serve in the Church and a necessary job that requires as much support as possible. Please email jacqueline.collins@cg.catholic.edu.au to add your child’s name to the list.

Feast of St Anne & St Joachim

Next Tuesday is the feast day of our school patron saint, St Anne. As we are unable to celebrate mass together as a community, the students will be celebrating the Feast day with a Liturgy in their class or stage groups. The students who have been selected as SRC representatives for Semester 2, will be inducted with their badges during the Primary Assembly on Friday and the Monday Secondary assembly. A photo of each child receiving their badge will be emailed to families. Our apologies that parents are unable to join with their child on this occasion.

Patronage of St. Anne

St. Anne is the patron saint of unmarried women, housewives, women in labor, grandmothers, childless people, equestrians, lacemakers, miners, the poor, and seamstresses. The most well-known patronage of St. Anne is that of grandmothers. Certainly as the mother of the Virgin Mary and the grandmother of Jesus Christ, St. Anne was a woman of great virtue and love.

About St. Anne

Tradition holds that St. Anne, or Ann, is the mother of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. There is no mention of Anne in the Bible; however, their story has been told in a document known as the “Gospel of James.” Non-biblical books from the early Christian centuries acknowledge Mary’s parents as Joachim and Anne. These sources claim that Joachim and Anne were childless for many years of their marriage. The angel Gabriel appeared to them separately and declared that they would in fact bear a child who must be dedicated to God. Hence, Anne became the mother of our Blessed Virgin Mary.

Made universal by Pope Gregory XIII, the church celebrates her feast day along with Joachim, on July 26th. St. Anne, Hebrew for Hannah, meaning “grace”, eventually became the patron saint of married women and childless couples.

As the woman chosen by God to be the Mother of His Son, the Virgin Mary is known around the world as a good, holy, and exceptional woman. Certainly she must have had extraordinary parents whose example of faith and trust in the Lord impacted her in a way that would change the course of history forever! These parents, Joachim and Anne, have been honored throughout the ages for their dedication to raising their daughter, Mary, to be a woman fully devoted to God, and raised in a way that brought glory to God.

St. Anne had a unique position in which God entrusted to her the task of bringing up Our Lady in a holy and virtuous way. While teaching Mary to cook, take care of her home, and look after her family and neighbors, St. Anne modeled for the Virgin Mary a life of prayer, love, and humility. In doing so, St. Anne prepared Our Lady to receive Our Lord not only into her heart, but into her very body, becoming the Mother of God.

Information about St. Anne’s death has been lost to history but she has been honored as a saint from the days of early Christianity, and her relics have been the cause for pilgrimage in several countries.

St. Anne depicted in Art

St. Anne is often shown seated with a book upon her lap and the child Mary leaning against her, eager to listen and to learn. God entrusted to St. Anne the task of raising Our Lady in a holy and virtuous home, and from a very young age Mary looked to St. Anne to learn about God and how He works in the lives of those who love and serve Him.

Source adapted from: https://catholicsaintmedals.com/saints/st-anne/

Litany of St. Anne

Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, have mercy on us.

Christ, hear us.

Christ, graciously hear us.

God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.

God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity one God, have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us

Saint Anne, Mother of the Virgin Mary, Pray for us.

Saint Anne, Spouse of Saint Joachim, Pray for us.

Saint Anne, Ark of Noah, Pray for us.

Saint Anne, root of Jesse, Pray for us.

Saint Anne, fruitful vine, Pray for us.

Saint Anne, joy of the angels, Pray for us.

Saint Anne, hope of the patriarchs, Pray for us.

Saint Anne, vessel full of grace, Pray for us.

Saint Anne, mirror of obedience, Pray for us.

Saint Anne, mirror of patience, Pray for us.

Saint Anne, mirror of devotion, Pray for us.

Saint Anne, support of the Church, Pray for us.

Saint Anne, refuge of sinners, Pray for us.

Saint Anne, mother of virgins, Pray for us.

Saint Anne, help of Christians, Pray for us.

Saint Anne, gate of salvation, Pray for us.

Saint Anne, guide of pilgrims, Pray for us.

Saint Anne, consolatrix of the afflicted, Pray for us.

Saint Anne, health of the sick, Pray for us.

Saint Anne, help of all who invoke you, Pray for us.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Pray for us, O blessed Saint Anne.

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

Let us Pray.

O God, Who by Your grace, was pleased to choose blessed Anne to be the mother of the Virgin Mary, mercifully grant that we who celebrate her praises may be assisted by her prayers to You, Who live and reign in a world without end. Amen.