Question for day 1:

What things that I have done this year, should I try to improve for next year?

Bible Quote for day 1:

“Let the wise hear and increase in learning”

(Proverbs 1: 5)

Prayer for day 1:

Loving father, as we come to the end of another school year, we turn to you in confidence and place any difficult relationships into the healing hands of Jesus, your son.

Enable us to leave behind any pain of the past and any regrets or bitterness, entrusting the past to your mercy, the present to your love and the future to your wisdom.

Help to appreciate more the need to keep a good balance in our lives.

May the holiday be for us a time of rest and recreation to help restore us and recreate us in your image and likeness, as we enjoy more of the love and presence of our families, on whom we ask your blessing. Amen   

(Nicholas Hutchinson)

Question for day 2:

What people and things should I be grateful for this year?

Bible Quote for day 2:

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus”

(1 Thessalonians 5: 8)

Prayer for day 2:

God our father, We give thanks for all those who have enriched our lives over the past year: at home, at school, in church and in our local communities.

We give thanks father for the gifts, talents and skills that you have given to each on of us. In giving thanks for what has been on the past, we ask your blessing on our present and on our future.

We pray for wisdom in setting priorities and in making our choices that we may live fully and make our part of the world a better place because of the care and compassion that we will bring to it.  Amen   

(Nicholas Hutchinson)

Question for day 3:

Who might need to find healing and strength in the holidays?

Bible Quote for day 3:

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me”

(Psalm 28: 7)

Prayer for day 3:

May God guard us and keep us in safety and comfort,

in health and in strength, sending us nothing but good.

May God send down so many blessings

that the day is not long enough for them all. Amen   

(Adapted from traditional Chinese blessing)

Question for day 4:

How might time away from friends and school help me?

Bible Quote for day 4:

“Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while”

(Mark 6: 31-32)

Prayer for day 4:

O God,

protect those whom we love when they are separated from us.

Guide them when they are uncertain,

comfort them when the are lonely or afraid,

and bless them with the warmth of your presence.

Thank you that neither space nor time

can cut us off from the love we have for each other and for you.

(Angela Ashwin)

Question for day 5:

How will I relax and recover in the summer?

Bible Quote for day 5:

“Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth”

(Jeremiah 33:6)

Prayer for day 5:

God our father,

we ask for your blessing on us as we look forward to our summer holiday.

May we use the holiday to relax after a busy term. 

Let us enjoy the time that we will be spending with our families and friends outside school.

Keep us and those we care about safe from harm, so that we may return rested and refreshed for the new school year in September. Amen   

(Angela Ashwin)

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Bishop Richard Challoner

During his lifetime and after his death, he was considered not only as a model of every virtue but as a saint. We are asked to pray that our Blessed Lord, through the Pope, may reward him further, by raising him to the altars of the Church as a Saint.

Prayer for the Beatification of Bishop Richard Challoner

O God who made your servant Richard,

a true and faithful pastor of your little flock in England,

raise him, we beseech you, to the altars of thy Church,

that we, who have been taught by his word and example

may invoke his name in heaven,

for the return of our country to belief in the Gospel,

and to the unity of all Christians in the one Church of Jesus Christ.

We ask this through the same Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Bishop Richard Challoner

Pray for us