Maryfield College

Religion

Emmanuel 2024

Fourth year students took part in the annual Emmanuel concert in the Helix on Wednesday. Emmanuel is a celebration of liturgical music and it is organised by the Archdiocese of Dublin. Schools all over Dublin take part in the Emmanuel concert.
The fourth years represented Maryfield well by singing their hearts out and getting involved in all the activities. It was a spiritual day where students got a chance to pray, reflect and sing. Two students sang beautiful solo pieces and shone on the main stage.

video

 

 

Fifth Year Retreats

Fifth year retreats Last week fifth year students took part in class retreats in the beautiful Ruah Retreat Centre. It was a day of prayer, reflection and discussion. It is important to take time out of every day busy lives to rest and reflect.

Le Cheile Day 6/3/’24

Celebrating Le Chéile Day and the Gift of Gratitude in Maryfield. Le Chéile Crew welcoming everyone to school this morning with a sweet treat and a gratitude card.

Our Le Chéile Day celebration continued with face painting, treats for staff at break time, appreciation certifications given to students who show commitment to Le Chéile values and gratitude activities and prizes given to classes throughout the afternoon.Thank you to our whole school community for taking part in our celebration of Le Chéile Day in Maryfield. A special mention of thanks to the “Le Chéile Crew” and Sheila.

Emmanuel

Fourth Years are representing Maryfield by participating in the Emmanuel Concert in the Helix on Wednesday 13th March. Tickets are available here here.

Christmas Cribs Video

Click here

 

 

First years Sing Carols and Make an Advent Symbol.

Class 3R enjoying a hot chocolate and some very special “Christmas Post”.

 

 

TY Pupils Carol Sing in Nazareth House

 

 

4K Care Pack For Shrewsbury House

4K  delivering Care-pack gifts to residents of Shrewsbury House, Drumcondra for Christmas on Tuesday 20th December. We had a wonderful afternoon singing Christmas Carols and songs. 
Ms.Seery and Ms.Cooney

 

 

4L Make Book Angels

 4L were making book angels in RE class while reflecting on what faith means.

 

School Mass 2023

Our opening of school year mass was celebrated on 11th October in St. Vincent de Paul church. Mass was celebrated by Father Tom Noone. The theme of our mass was taken from Pope Francis’ address to young people in Lisbonduring the summer, we are called to “be surfers of love.” We prayed for our school community and those marginalised throughout the world. We took part in a wonderful liturgy that encouraged us to be of service to the community around us in Maryfield College and beyond.

 

In November, We Remember

As we approach the month of the Holy Souls the ‘In November We Remember’ resources have been published at the link below:

https://catholiceducation.ie/catholic-schools-week-2024-communities-of-service/

Maryfield College took part in the Dublin Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes.

Another September, and once again Maryfield College took part in the Dublin Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes. Four sixth year students – Holly Clarke, Ciara Gill, Grainne Murray, Rebecca Maguire along with Ms. Seery volunteered looking after the sick and elderly pilgrims.

Due to all their hard work and efforts, many pilgrims had a very memorable and meaningful experience at Lourdes. The Maryfield girls along with their peers “The Blueshirts” and all the other helpers involved in the pilgrimage worked above and beyond their duties, taking on extra duties due to flight delays etc.

The Maryfield girls were mainly involved in the duties of ward support and refectory. They were full of enthusiasm for every task they were involved in.  They showed great kindness and compassion to those in their care, and work well as the Lourdes Maryfield Team, within the great big team that is the Dublin Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes. On one evening the girls were stewarding at the Torch Light Procession which is a very beautiful act of prayer. They also sang in the Folk Group at Lourdes during the many liturgies and ceremonies that take place during the pilgrimage.

They also attended the medal ceremony, where Ms. Seery was awarded the silver medal for completing five years of service to the pilgrimage. Many volunteers are awarded each year by the Archbishop of Dublin for their various lengths of service to the pilgrimage.

On their last night in Lourdes, the Maryfield Team headed to the Grotto to light their special large pilgrim candle for all the intentions of the Maryfield Community and for anyone who asked for us to remember them in our prayers. The girls also lit four candles for last year’s volunteers and wished them every success in their new endeavours.

Lourdes is an amazing sacred place. We ask for the guidance of Our Lady and the courage of St. Bernadette to bless us all in this coming academic year ahead. May we take this opportunity to thank all those who supported us and help us to fundraise. We remembered you all in our prayers at the Grotto. This was a life-changing opportunity for our girls, one that they will remember forever.

 

Le Chéile Day

Click here to learn about this special day.

5th Years On Retreat

5K on retreat this week in the Ruah Retreat Centre in Drumcondra. All fifth years are participating in class retreats this week. It is a day of discussion, reflection and prayer. Fifth years will be encouraged to think about the theme “I’m ok, You’re ok and that’s ok”.

LE CHEILE SCHOOLS TRUST STUDENT SYMPOSIUM

“LIVING OUR CATHOLIC FAITH”

On Monday 13th March, ten students along with Ms.Seery took part in the very first Le Cheile Faith Symposium. This was a wonderful gathering of Le Cheile schools from all over the country.

The symposium was held at Knock Shrine in Co. Mayo. the students took part in various workshops including the following:

  • The story of Knock (Museum)
  • The “Mosaic” story (Basilica)
  • Faith sharing
  • Recovery from addiction through faith, with members of the Cenacolo Community.
  • Positivity of music in prayer
  • Meditation

The students had the opportunity to reflect on prayer and faith in their own lives, and on how they live out the Le Cheile values within their own school communities.

The afternoon began with a special celebration of Mass in the Parish church, where various representatives from the schools took part in the liturgy, and everyone joined in the wonderful music.

There were some presentations from schools about the work of their “Ember” teams. This is a peer lead faith leadership group within the schools which aims to help school communities to live out our Catholic Faith.

The students really enjoyed the opportunity to link with students from so many different schools throughout the country, who are all part of the Le Cheile family. It was particularly lovely to meet up with the teachers and students from our sister/school – Cross and Passion, Kilcullen, Co. Kildare.

At the closing session, there was an invitation from the Knock Youth Ministry for students to participate in some summer volunteering at Knock Shrine (16–18-year-olds). Please see the noticeboard outside Room 27 for further information or speak to Ms. Seery

Maryfield can be very proud of the students who went to Knock this year. They were terrific ambassadors for their school. They completed a very long day from early morning to late in the evening, and entered very enthusiastically into the whole event. Well done girls!

We look for to this event being the first of many gatherings that will take place in the years to come.

 

International Women’s Day 2023

#EmbraceEquity- the theme of international Women’s Day 2023./ Strike a pose.

 

Emmanuel 2023

Last Wednesday March 1st, the TY students took part in the EMMANUEL Concerts at the Helix. This is an initiative between schools and the Dublin Diocese. It was great to take part again in this wonderful event after  the Pandemic, and it was so inspiring and uplifting to see and hear so many young people singing. The concerts promote wonderful music that can be used in our schools for Liturgy.
Among the highlights were video greetings from the various composers, and it was a lovely surprise to include a video message from the very famous Bjorn Kristian Ulaevus of ABBA whose song “Ode To Freedom” was one of the pieces performed.
The Religion Department would like to express how well our TY students participated and represented Maryfield College. A special note to our soloists, Cliona Barrett who sang “The Prayer” and Ai Lin Sun who played the piano in the orchestra.
Congratulations and well done to everybody involved. The whole event was a great success.

Video

Lenten Space For Grace

Dear Le Chéile Community,

Our first Lenten Space for Grace takes place today at 13:20 online, the entire Le Chéile community are invited to join us for 20 minutes of prayer and reflection. Please circulate with more members of the community as you feel fit.

We will have in total three Space for Grace online reflections, today, March 15th & March 29th all at 13:20. This is in collaboration with other Trusts and Organisations – CEIST, Spiritan Trust, Loreto Trust, Dublin Diocese & Marino Institute.

We acknowledge that schools & workplaces are busy places therefore we will be recording the reflection and will place it on our website later today so that it can be viewed at another time for those that want it.

Please see attached the advertising poster and below the zoom link for all three Space for Graces

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81491929432<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fus02web.zoom.us%2Fj%2F81491929432&data=05%7C01%7C%7Cec739d2ac52240cf9f3908db1a396374%7Caf5d9931d1e44a28a9fd75359ef98ab4%7C0%7C0%7C638132606111529708%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=9UQeUQv%2B3hZoBPEmGrdaAwhAs0w77PMX%2FTX9XCQdSJg%3D&reserved=0>

We hope you can make time for your own faith journey this Lent and join us.

Warm wishes,

Claire Kilroy
Ethos Leadership Officer,
Le Chéile Schools Trust CLG,

 

 

Religion Department Twitter Account

@REmaryfield

 

First Year Retreats

All first years took part in class retreats this week in the parish centre in St. Vincent De Paul Church, Marino.

The RE department would like to thank the first year students who participated so well together each day.

“We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Marianne Williamson

Scout’s experience of retreat

“The Theme of the retreat was Self- esteem. Self-esteem is believing in yourself and loving yourself the way God loves you. I enjoyed all of the games that we played because now I know the people in my class a bit better. I found it difficult to meditate at first but when I got into the flow of it I found it relaxing. I had a really fun day.”

Christmas Carols

It is a longstanding tradition that sixth year students sing carols for the first year students here in Maryfield. This afternoon the sixth years encouraged the first years to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas and the need for peace in our world. We sang carols together and listened to readings.

There was a special visitor and we also sang some Christmas favourites. Thank you to all the sixth years who planned and participated in our carol service. A special mention to the stars of the show and to Mary-Kate for her impeccable compere skills.

Thanks to Ms Seery, Ms McCarron and Ms Cooney for their help in preparation of our carol service.

Happy Christmas Everyone

 

Nazareth House Nursing Home

Class 4K / 4L visiting Nazareth House Nursing Home this morning to sing Carols and Christmas songs for the residents. The staff and residents  really appreciated the visit.
A special Thank You to Ms.Cooney and Ms.Seery for arranging this event.

 

Fourth Year Book Folding Angels

 

TY Book Folding

TY students take part in a “Book Folding” craft workshop as part of Transition Year RE. The workshop took place in the Margaret Alyward Faith Centre in Glasnevin.

6th Year Retreat

On 1st December the sixth years gathered in the assembly hall for a day of reflection led by our special guest Gerry Keegan. Gerry shared aspects of his own faith journey and encouraged the sixth years to take time to reflect on their own lives and experience. Gerry sang songs and shared his story through examining the lyrics. There were plenty of games and interactive music general knowledge quizzes, correct answers were rewarded with enthusiastic cheers.

It was a powerful experience to be witnessed. Thank you everybody for your respectful participation and sense of  fun throughout the day.

A special word of thanks to our personal Adele act! 😉 Hope you enjoyed the pizza lunch.

The RE Department

Video

Video

 

Opening of School Year Mass

On Thursday 29th September we gathered as a community to celebrate the Opening of School Year Mass in St. Vincent De Paul Church, Marino.  Fr. Tom Noone celebrated our Mass with us and blessed our school community for the coming year.  We reflected on the values of our school and the symbolism of the Sunflower. We were encouraged to be like the sunflower.  “Be like the sunflower that follows every movement of the sun and keep your eyes always towards our God”. We formally welcomed all the first year students and new members of our Maryfield Community. There were presentations to our newly appointed sixth year prefects and the four students who represented Maryfield on the Dublin Diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes. Thank you to all who participated so wonderfully in the Liturgy.

Lourdes 2022

Maryfield taking part in the Dublin Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes 2022.
Well done to our four sixth years who did a wonderful job serving as “Blue Shirts” and represented our school proudly.
Jodie Sherlock
Anna Kendellen
Abby Whelan
Angelina Zhao

lourdes reflection[5758]

 

Fourth Year Faith

Fourth years reflected on what the word ‘Faith’ meant in the context of their own lives and experiences. They created pieces of art, poetry and music that connected with their understanding of faith.

Congratulations on all your hard work everybody, it was a pleasure to see you working on your pieces and then sharing them with your classmates. A special shout out to our two rappers and their performance of ‘appreciation of life’.

Trip to Knock – 12th May

Fifth years had an early call on Thursday 12th May. They headed west to Knock, Co. Mayo to take part in the #Livelife reflection day in memory of Donal Walsh.

Donal Walsh is the Kerry teenager who touched so many lives when he came to prominence through his writings and subsequent appearance on Brendan O’Connor’s ‘The Saturday Night Show’. Donal fundraised tirelessly while battling cancer. His family set up the foundation to promote his #Livelife message.

During the reflection day students listened to guest speakers Lisa Fallon, Annette Kelly and Paul Galvin. The speakers talked about the value of practice, positive thinking and pushing towards fulfilling their dreams.

Later, we gathered for mass in Basilica to celebrate and reflect on what Donal’s #Livelife message meant in the context of our own lives. Donal’s parents spoke during the mass keeping Donal’s message alive. We all found it a very thought-provoking experience.

Thank you to all the fifth years who represented our school so respectfully during our day in Knock.

RE Department

Glendalough Pilgrimage

The RE Department organised some pilgrimage days in Glendalough for our second and third year students. Students took time out of their secular lives to enter into the sacred and connect with their spirituality in the beautiful surrounds of Glendalough, Co. Wicklow. They learned about the legends and stories of St. Kevin and the life of a monk.

TEEN SYNOD 2022

On Wednesday 6th April 2022, five students from Maryfield College (Emily Burke 5thYear, Aoife Quinlan and Aisling Fallon 2nd year, also Michelle Matthew and Amelia Solinska 1st year) took part in a TEEN SYNOD GATHERING in the Margaret Aylward Centre, Glasnevin. This event was organised and hosted by St. Mary’s Holy Faith Secondary School and the arish of Our Lady of Dolours, Glasnevin.

Pope Francis wants the Church to be a “Church that listens,” and therefore it is vital that the views and responses of our young people are included in this listening process. The aim of the Worldwide Synod is a process to gather the experiences of Church and Faith from those who are actively involved as well as those who may have become detached from the Church.

The students discussed various things with other students such as – “What is the Church?,” and what has been their experiences of Church or Faith, especially with regard to their own school, community or parish. All students present at the Teen Synod represented the voices of young people who attend a Faith Based Secondary school.

The event was extremely engaging and informative, and all the submissions gathered will now be added to the submissions of the Dublin Diocese, and then will be sent as part of the National Submission to Rome ahead of the Pope’s World Synod in 2023!

In relation to Local Synods- Pope Francis has encouraged openness and freedom to speak using the term “Parrhesia,” which means speaking from the heart in charity. There was a great opportunity for all the students to participate and specially to listen to their peers.

Well done to all our girls involved on the day – they did a fantastic job! May God bless all involved in this process of shaping the Irish Church, within the Universal Church of the future.

(Patricia Seery- Maryfield College)

One Million Stars

The project “ONE MILLION STARS” began in Australia in 2012, when Samoan artist Maryann Talia Pau began weaving the eight-pointed stars as a response to the murder of Gillian Meagher, an Irish woman living in Australia.

Click on the link below to learn about the One Million Stars project.

ONE MILLION STARS

For My Sister

As part of celebrating international women’s day, we would like to say that we are organizing a collection to help the AOIBHNESS Women’s Shelter. When women flee their homes from domestic violence, they often have very little with them. On arrival to the shelter, they are given a welcome pack.

Click on the link below to learn about the For My Sister campaign.

FOR MY SISTER

4th Years on Retreat 
Our fourth years went on retreat to Tipperary in November, 2021.

SHOWCASE AND SHARE –

STUDENT ACTION FOR CHANGE

Patricia Seery / Maryfield College

On Tuesday February 1st, Maryfield College attended an online gathering to connect with the wider Le Cheile community. This day was to celebrate St. Brigid’s day by showcasing and sharing all the amazing work that all the Le Cheile schools are involved in. the day was a celebration of many forms of student action that our schools are involved in.

Five Maryfield students were involved- Karoline Biju (6th Year), Amy Sheehy and Emma Kearney (5th Year) and Sophia Malik and Sarah Elders (3rd Year). There were over four hundred participants from seventy-five schools.  everyone gathered in prayer, in shared activities and shared ideas.

This meeting also provided an opportunity for the teachers involved to connect with other teaching colleagues in the Le Cheile community regarding Student Leadership and ethos in action. As part of the gathering, everyone was divided up into Breakout Rooms, where the students got to talk to each other, and were able to share and highlight the many great things that happen in their school community involving student leadership and action.

The students enjoyed the gathering and perhaps have brought some new ideas back to Maryfield.

Some student reflections:

REFLECTION ON LE CHÉILE’S ST BRIGID’S DAY CELEBRATION

Since St Brigid’s day is officially a national holiday starting from next year, this year was the last year where schools would be open for St Brigid’s Day. To celebrate this joyous occasion, On the 1st of February this year, Le Chéile organised a zoom meeting where all Le Chéile schools could gather to show their appreciation for St Brigid, and her core values evident in each Le Chéile school. I had the honour of participating in the celebration and I really enjoyed it. The day started with introductions given by the CEO of Le Chéile and then it moved onto the showcase and share where presentations were made by different schools to showcase the values of St Brigid evident in their schools. I thought all the presentations made by each school were well done. I especially enjoyed the song that was sung by one of the schools. The song was an original written by a student in the school and it showed the talent and creativity found in the Le Chéile schools. It made me reflect on how being a part of Le Chéile has allowed schools to harness their students’ abilities and give them an opportunity to reach their full potential. After the showcase and share, we were put into breakout rooms. This was my favourite part of the day because it allowed me to connect with students from other schools across the country and abroad! We had a chance to talk and present our schools to each other. There were about six other schools in my breakout room, and I really liked how small the breakout rooms were because we all had a chance to talk and converse. When it was my turn to talk, I had so many things I wanted to talk about, but I settled on talking about the One Million Stars project we started doing in school that aims to end violence against women. I wanted to talk about something that was important and something I was proud of doing in school. I also hoped that other schools would hear the idea and would be inspired to also start the project in their own schools. Not only was I able to represent Maryfield and present what we had to offer, I was also lucky enough to take from the experience, new ideas that can be brought into Maryfield such as the initiative to cycle to school or including learning about all the languages found in Maryfield into our intercultural club. I am so thankful to have been asked to be a part of this celebration and I enjoyed and learned a lot from this occasion.

Showcase and Share 2022

My experience in the showcase and share with Le Cheile was very special and moving. I thought it was incredible the way so many schools were connected and were able to spread the things and events that make their school special. I really enjoyed watching the videos that were presented during the meeting as I think they were very impactful as they showed you a visual of all the amazing things they do, whilst watching the videos it just put you in a great mood and made you want to do all those things too. During the zoom meeting I learned that our school and all the other schools celebrate similar events and have similar procedures, but we all do them in different ways. By attending the zoom meeting, it really opened my eyes to some of the ideas that other schools shared and made me want  to bring and spread those ideas in our own school. I think by attending the showcase and share, it really made me want to make a difference in our school and make our school have an even better atmosphere, including environment and do things that don’t just benefit us in Maryfield, but the wider local, national, and international community. Overall, I think the Le Cheile St. Brigid’s day Showcase and share made everyone feel touched and motivated to do amazing things in their schools and made everyone feel included in an experience that will change the way all the schools approach all these events, holidays, social issues, and problems in their schools. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in such a wonderful and impactful event.

  • Le Cheile Schools in Action:

https://youtu.be/RbvYRMY1RrM

  • Le Cheile Keys Project:

https://youtu.be/t6eTnDtHkWs

  • Le Cheile / Welcome to the Le Cheile Centre

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v+GueKPNL05Jl


Catholic Schools Week Art Competition

Here are some photos of the winners from the art competition held as part of Catholic Schools Week. The students were asked to draw or create their image of God.


Carol Singing at Nazareth House

Our Transition Year students brought some Christmas cheer to Nazareth House Nursing Home where they sang carols and Christmas songs for the residents.


Beginning of School Year Mass

Our mass to mark the beginning of the academic year is a very important occasion in our school calendar. The entire school community gathers together in Marino Parish Church where we welcome new students and staff, wish former staff and students well, pray together and share in the Eucharist.

The theme of this year’s mass echoed the words of St. Teresa of Avila, “Christ has no body now but yours”, focusing particularly on the power of our hands to do good in the world. This theme was beautifully woven into the liturgy and reiterated in the words of Fr. Tom’s homily, encouraging us to use our hands to build rather than to break.

Many students throughout the school contributed to the school mass through art, music and reading. Our new First Years were welcomed and our newly appointed Prefects were presented with their badges.


Another September!

Less than two weeks after the World Meeting of Families and the visit of Pope Francis to Ireland, it was now time for the Maryfield girls accompanied by Ms. Seery to join the over 2,000 Dublin parishioners and pilgrims as part of the annual Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes.

Friday September 7th saw seven aircraft depart from Dublin for Lourdes carrying sick pilgrims, helpers, medical staff, clergy and students.

Our four 6th Years, Aoife Hayes, Aoife Traynor, Hannah Byrne Kennedy and Dearbhaile Mulrooney, were among the wonderful young people from twenty-five secondary schools taking part.

Numeracy Moment!
177 sick pilgrims
45 nurses
8 doctors
300 young volunteers/helpers
35 priests
4 deacons
1 archbishop
133 ‘Blue Shirts’
20 parish groups

The Maryfield girls were part of the ‘Blue Shirts’ team. They began work on their arrival at the airport on Friday the 7th, helping to load all the sick pilgrims onto the planes. They continued to work tirelessly until our arrival back at Dublin Airport on September 12th where they assisted with the disembarkation of pilgrims.

The whole Lourdes experience was amazing, the weather glorious and the encounters with the people truly special. The girls’ duties involved working the acceuil (reception duties) and flag/stewarding duties at the ceremonies throughout the pilgrimage. This year, the Maryfield girls also lent their voices to the Lourdes Folk Group at the liturgies held for the pilgrims.
Every evening (after 10pm most nights) when all duties and ceremonies had ended, the ‘Blue Shirts’ then attended ‘Prairie’ with the youth chaplain, Fr. Paul Thornton, the youth Lourdes Pilgrimage leaders Michelle and Eoin, and all the teachers and students from the various schools. ‘Prairie’ allows the young people to reflect on their experiences each day in Lourdes.
There are so many highlights of the pilgrimage, so many moving moments (the ‘Baths’), so many times when you are touched by being with the sick pilgrims, simply serving. At the same time you are made aware of your own good health and good fortune.

One evening we attended the Medal Ceremony, where individual helpers are awarded medals for their years of service. One man was presented with a special award for sixty years’ service to the Dublin Pilgrimage.

The girls made many friends and joined in all the activities including a table-quiz, and a ‘sing-song’, where again there was no stopping their musical talent with a version of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Valerie’.

A special tradition that we have established is to go privately to the Grotto on the last night and light a very large candle for all connected with Maryfield College, and for those who supported us through our fund-raising efforts. We prayed at the Grotto for everyone’s intentions. This year we lit a very special candle in memory of our beloved Ciara Hawe, and we prayed especially for Ciara’s family and friends. Our four girls this year also lit four candles to pray for last year’s four volunteers from Maryfield – to bless them as they begin the new directions in their lives having finished school.

It is hard to put into words the experience of Lourdes. There is definitely something special, spiritual and sacred about this place. The legacy of Our Blessed Lady and St. Bernadette is truly present.

Our four students were amazing ambassadors for our school and we can be extremely proud of them. Lourdes will always be a unique experience for them, and hopefully at a later stage they will return there.

fourth year book folding ange

 

 

One Million Stars

The project “ONE MILLION STARS” began in Australia in 2012, when Samoan artist Maryann Talia Pau began weaving the eight-pointed stars as a response to the murder of Gillian Meagher, an Irish woman living in Australia.

Click on the link below to learn about the One Million Stars project.

ONE MILLION STARS

 

 

For My Sister

As part of celebrating international women’s day, we would like to say that we are organizing a collection to help the AOIBHNESS Women’s Shelter. When women flee their homes from domestic violence, they often have very little with them. On arrival to the shelter, they are given a welcome pack.

Click on the link below to learn about the For My Sister campaign.

FOR MY SISTER

4th Years on Retreat 
Our fourth years went on retreat to Tipperary in November, 2021.

SHOWCASE AND SHARE –

STUDENT ACTION FOR CHANGE

Patricia Seery / Maryfield College

On Tuesday February 1st, Maryfield College attended an online gathering to connect with the wider Le Cheile community. This day was to celebrate St. Brigid’s day by showcasing and sharing all the amazing work that all the Le Cheile schools are involved in. the day was a celebration of many forms of student action that our schools are involved in.

Five Maryfield students were involved- Karoline Biju (6th Year), Amy Sheehy and Emma Kearney (5th Year) and Sophia Malik and Sarah Elders (3rd Year). There were over four hundred participants from seventy-five schools.  everyone gathered in prayer, in shared activities and shared ideas.

This meeting also provided an opportunity for the teachers involved to connect with other teaching colleagues in the Le Cheile community regarding Student Leadership and ethos in action. As part of the gathering, everyone was divided up into Breakout Rooms, where the students got to talk to each other, and were able to share and highlight the many great things that happen in their school community involving student leadership and action.

The students enjoyed the gathering and perhaps have brought some new ideas back to Maryfield.

Some student reflections:

REFLECTION ON LE CHÉILE’S ST BRIGID’S DAY CELEBRATION

Since St Brigid’s day is officially a national holiday starting from next year, this year was the last year where schools would be open for St Brigid’s Day. To celebrate this joyous occasion, On the 1st of February this year, Le Chéile organised a zoom meeting where all Le Chéile schools could gather to show their appreciation for St Brigid, and her core values evident in each Le Chéile school. I had the honour of participating in the celebration and I really enjoyed it. The day started with introductions given by the CEO of Le Chéile and then it moved onto the showcase and share where presentations were made by different schools to showcase the values of St Brigid evident in their schools. I thought all the presentations made by each school were well done. I especially enjoyed the song that was sung by one of the schools. The song was an original written by a student in the school and it showed the talent and creativity found in the Le Chéile schools. It made me reflect on how being a part of Le Chéile has allowed schools to harness their students’ abilities and give them an opportunity to reach their full potential. After the showcase and share, we were put into breakout rooms. This was my favourite part of the day because it allowed me to connect with students from other schools across the country and abroad! We had a chance to talk and present our schools to each other. There were about six other schools in my breakout room, and I really liked how small the breakout rooms were because we all had a chance to talk and converse. When it was my turn to talk, I had so many things I wanted to talk about, but I settled on talking about the One Million Stars project we started doing in school that aims to end violence against women. I wanted to talk about something that was important and something I was proud of doing in school. I also hoped that other schools would hear the idea and would be inspired to also start the project in their own schools. Not only was I able to represent Maryfield and present what we had to offer, I was also lucky enough to take from the experience, new ideas that can be brought into Maryfield such as the initiative to cycle to school or including learning about all the languages found in Maryfield into our intercultural club. I am so thankful to have been asked to be a part of this celebration and I enjoyed and learned a lot from this occasion.

Showcase and Share 2022

My experience in the showcase and share with Le Cheile was very special and moving. I thought it was incredible the way so many schools were connected and were able to spread the things and events that make their school special. I really enjoyed watching the videos that were presented during the meeting as I think they were very impactful as they showed you a visual of all the amazing things they do, whilst watching the videos it just put you in a great mood and made you want to do all those things too. During the zoom meeting I learned that our school and all the other schools celebrate similar events and have similar procedures, but we all do them in different ways. By attending the zoom meeting, it really opened my eyes to some of the ideas that other schools shared and made me want  to bring and spread those ideas in our own school. I think by attending the showcase and share, it really made me want to make a difference in our school and make our school have an even better atmosphere, including environment and do things that don’t just benefit us in Maryfield, but the wider local, national, and international community. Overall, I think the Le Cheile St. Brigid’s day Showcase and share made everyone feel touched and motivated to do amazing things in their schools and made everyone feel included in an experience that will change the way all the schools approach all these events, holidays, social issues, and problems in their schools. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in such a wonderful and impactful event.

  • Le Cheile Schools in Action:

https://youtu.be/RbvYRMY1RrM

  • Le Cheile Keys Project:

https://youtu.be/t6eTnDtHkWs

  • Le Cheile / Welcome to the Le Cheile Centre

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v+GueKPNL05Jl


Catholic Schools Week Art Competition

Here are some photos of the winners from the art competition held as part of Catholic Schools Week. The students were asked to draw or create their image of God.


Carol Singing at Nazareth House

Our Transition Year students brought some Christmas cheer to Nazareth House Nursing Home where they sang carols and Christmas songs for the residents.


Beginning of School Year Mass

Our mass to mark the beginning of the academic year is a very important occasion in our school calendar. The entire school community gathers together in Marino Parish Church where we welcome new students and staff, wish former staff and students well, pray together and share in the Eucharist.

The theme of this year’s mass echoed the words of St. Teresa of Avila, “Christ has no body now but yours”, focusing particularly on the power of our hands to do good in the world. This theme was beautifully woven into the liturgy and reiterated in the words of Fr. Tom’s homily, encouraging us to use our hands to build rather than to break.

Many students throughout the school contributed to the school mass through art, music and reading. Our new First Years were welcomed and our newly appointed Prefects were presented with their badges.


Another September!

Less than two weeks after the World Meeting of Families and the visit of Pope Francis to Ireland, it was now time for the Maryfield girls accompanied by Ms. Seery to join the over 2,000 Dublin parishioners and pilgrims as part of the annual Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes.

Friday September 7th saw seven aircraft depart from Dublin for Lourdes carrying sick pilgrims, helpers, medical staff, clergy and students.

Our four 6th Years, Aoife Hayes, Aoife Traynor, Hannah Byrne Kennedy and Dearbhaile Mulrooney, were among the wonderful young people from twenty-five secondary schools taking part.

Numeracy Moment!
177 sick pilgrims
45 nurses
8 doctors
300 young volunteers/helpers
35 priests
4 deacons
1 archbishop
133 ‘Blue Shirts’
20 parish groups

The Maryfield girls were part of the ‘Blue Shirts’ team. They began work on their arrival at the airport on Friday the 7th, helping to load all the sick pilgrims onto the planes. They continued to work tirelessly until our arrival back at Dublin Airport on September 12th where they assisted with the disembarkation of pilgrims.

The whole Lourdes experience was amazing, the weather glorious and the encounters with the people truly special. The girls’ duties involved working the acceuil (reception duties) and flag/stewarding duties at the ceremonies throughout the pilgrimage. This year, the Maryfield girls also lent their voices to the Lourdes Folk Group at the liturgies held for the pilgrims.
Every evening (after 10pm most nights) when all duties and ceremonies had ended, the ‘Blue Shirts’ then attended ‘Prairie’ with the youth chaplain, Fr. Paul Thornton, the youth Lourdes Pilgrimage leaders Michelle and Eoin, and all the teachers and students from the various schools. ‘Prairie’ allows the young people to reflect on their experiences each day in Lourdes.
There are so many highlights of the pilgrimage, so many moving moments (the ‘Baths’), so many times when you are touched by being with the sick pilgrims, simply serving. At the same time you are made aware of your own good health and good fortune.

One evening we attended the Medal Ceremony, where individual helpers are awarded medals for their years of service. One man was presented with a special award for sixty years’ service to the Dublin Pilgrimage.

The girls made many friends and joined in all the activities including a table-quiz, and a ‘sing-song’, where again there was no stopping their musical talent with a version of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Valerie’.

A special tradition that we have established is to go privately to the Grotto on the last night and light a very large candle for all connected with Maryfield College, and for those who supported us through our fund-raising efforts. We prayed at the Grotto for everyone’s intentions. This year we lit a very special candle in memory of our beloved Ciara Hawe, and we prayed especially for Ciara’s family and friends. Our four girls this year also lit four candles to pray for last year’s four volunteers from Maryfield – to bless them as they begin the new directions in their lives having finished school.

It is hard to put into words the experience of Lourdes. There is definitely something special, spiritual and sacred about this place. The legacy of Our Blessed Lady and St. Bernadette is truly present.

Our four students were amazing ambassadors for our school and we can be extremely proud of them. Lourdes will always be a unique experience for them, and hopefully at a later stage they will return there.

 

 

One Million Stars

The project “ONE MILLION STARS” began in Australia in 2012, when Samoan artist Maryann Talia Pau began weaving the eight-pointed stars as a response to the murder of Gillian Meagher, an Irish woman living in Australia.

Click on the link below to learn about the One Million Stars project.

ONE MILLION STARS

 

 

For My Sister

As part of celebrating international women’s day, we would like to say that we are organizing a collection to help the AOIBHNESS Women’s Shelter. When women flee their homes from domestic violence, they often have very little with them. On arrival to the shelter, they are given a welcome pack.

Click on the link below to learn about the For My Sister campaign.

FOR MY SISTER

4th Years on Retreat 
Our fourth years went on retreat to Tipperary in November, 2021.

SHOWCASE AND SHARE –

STUDENT ACTION FOR CHANGE

Patricia Seery / Maryfield College

On Tuesday February 1st, Maryfield College attended an online gathering to connect with the wider Le Cheile community. This day was to celebrate St. Brigid’s day by showcasing and sharing all the amazing work that all the Le Cheile schools are involved in. the day was a celebration of many forms of student action that our schools are involved in.

Five Maryfield students were involved- Karoline Biju (6th Year), Amy Sheehy and Emma Kearney (5th Year) and Sophia Malik and Sarah Elders (3rd Year). There were over four hundred participants from seventy-five schools.  everyone gathered in prayer, in shared activities and shared ideas.

This meeting also provided an opportunity for the teachers involved to connect with other teaching colleagues in the Le Cheile community regarding Student Leadership and ethos in action. As part of the gathering, everyone was divided up into Breakout Rooms, where the students got to talk to each other, and were able to share and highlight the many great things that happen in their school community involving student leadership and action.

The students enjoyed the gathering and perhaps have brought some new ideas back to Maryfield.

Some student reflections:

REFLECTION ON LE CHÉILE’S ST BRIGID’S DAY CELEBRATION

Since St Brigid’s day is officially a national holiday starting from next year, this year was the last year where schools would be open for St Brigid’s Day. To celebrate this joyous occasion, On the 1st of February this year, Le Chéile organised a zoom meeting where all Le Chéile schools could gather to show their appreciation for St Brigid, and her core values evident in each Le Chéile school. I had the honour of participating in the celebration and I really enjoyed it. The day started with introductions given by the CEO of Le Chéile and then it moved onto the showcase and share where presentations were made by different schools to showcase the values of St Brigid evident in their schools. I thought all the presentations made by each school were well done. I especially enjoyed the song that was sung by one of the schools. The song was an original written by a student in the school and it showed the talent and creativity found in the Le Chéile schools. It made me reflect on how being a part of Le Chéile has allowed schools to harness their students’ abilities and give them an opportunity to reach their full potential. After the showcase and share, we were put into breakout rooms. This was my favourite part of the day because it allowed me to connect with students from other schools across the country and abroad! We had a chance to talk and present our schools to each other. There were about six other schools in my breakout room, and I really liked how small the breakout rooms were because we all had a chance to talk and converse. When it was my turn to talk, I had so many things I wanted to talk about, but I settled on talking about the One Million Stars project we started doing in school that aims to end violence against women. I wanted to talk about something that was important and something I was proud of doing in school. I also hoped that other schools would hear the idea and would be inspired to also start the project in their own schools. Not only was I able to represent Maryfield and present what we had to offer, I was also lucky enough to take from the experience, new ideas that can be brought into Maryfield such as the initiative to cycle to school or including learning about all the languages found in Maryfield into our intercultural club. I am so thankful to have been asked to be a part of this celebration and I enjoyed and learned a lot from this occasion.

Showcase and Share 2022

My experience in the showcase and share with Le Cheile was very special and moving. I thought it was incredible the way so many schools were connected and were able to spread the things and events that make their school special. I really enjoyed watching the videos that were presented during the meeting as I think they were very impactful as they showed you a visual of all the amazing things they do, whilst watching the videos it just put you in a great mood and made you want to do all those things too. During the zoom meeting I learned that our school and all the other schools celebrate similar events and have similar procedures, but we all do them in different ways. By attending the zoom meeting, it really opened my eyes to some of the ideas that other schools shared and made me want  to bring and spread those ideas in our own school. I think by attending the showcase and share, it really made me want to make a difference in our school and make our school have an even better atmosphere, including environment and do things that don’t just benefit us in Maryfield, but the wider local, national, and international community. Overall, I think the Le Cheile St. Brigid’s day Showcase and share made everyone feel touched and motivated to do amazing things in their schools and made everyone feel included in an experience that will change the way all the schools approach all these events, holidays, social issues, and problems in their schools. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in such a wonderful and impactful event.

  • Le Cheile Schools in Action:

https://youtu.be/RbvYRMY1RrM

  • Le Cheile Keys Project:

https://youtu.be/t6eTnDtHkWs

  • Le Cheile / Welcome to the Le Cheile Centre

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v+GueKPNL05Jl


Catholic Schools Week Art Competition

Here are some photos of the winners from the art competition held as part of Catholic Schools Week. The students were asked to draw or create their image of God.


Carol Singing at Nazareth House

Our Transition Year students brought some Christmas cheer to Nazareth House Nursing Home where they sang carols and Christmas songs for the residents.


Beginning of School Year Mass

Our mass to mark the beginning of the academic year is a very important occasion in our school calendar. The entire school community gathers together in Marino Parish Church where we welcome new students and staff, wish former staff and students well, pray together and share in the Eucharist.

The theme of this year’s mass echoed the words of St. Teresa of Avila, “Christ has no body now but yours”, focusing particularly on the power of our hands to do good in the world. This theme was beautifully woven into the liturgy and reiterated in the words of Fr. Tom’s homily, encouraging us to use our hands to build rather than to break.

Many students throughout the school contributed to the school mass through art, music and reading. Our new First Years were welcomed and our newly appointed Prefects were presented with their badges.


Another September!

Less than two weeks after the World Meeting of Families and the visit of Pope Francis to Ireland, it was now time for the Maryfield girls accompanied by Ms. Seery to join the over 2,000 Dublin parishioners and pilgrims as part of the annual Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes.

Friday September 7th saw seven aircraft depart from Dublin for Lourdes carrying sick pilgrims, helpers, medical staff, clergy and students.

Our four 6th Years, Aoife Hayes, Aoife Traynor, Hannah Byrne Kennedy and Dearbhaile Mulrooney, were among the wonderful young people from twenty-five secondary schools taking part.

Numeracy Moment!
177 sick pilgrims
45 nurses
8 doctors
300 young volunteers/helpers
35 priests
4 deacons
1 archbishop
133 ‘Blue Shirts’
20 parish groups

The Maryfield girls were part of the ‘Blue Shirts’ team. They began work on their arrival at the airport on Friday the 7th, helping to load all the sick pilgrims onto the planes. They continued to work tirelessly until our arrival back at Dublin Airport on September 12th where they assisted with the disembarkation of pilgrims.

The whole Lourdes experience was amazing, the weather glorious and the encounters with the people truly special. The girls’ duties involved working the acceuil (reception duties) and flag/stewarding duties at the ceremonies throughout the pilgrimage. This year, the Maryfield girls also lent their voices to the Lourdes Folk Group at the liturgies held for the pilgrims.
Every evening (after 10pm most nights) when all duties and ceremonies had ended, the ‘Blue Shirts’ then attended ‘Prairie’ with the youth chaplain, Fr. Paul Thornton, the youth Lourdes Pilgrimage leaders Michelle and Eoin, and all the teachers and students from the various schools. ‘Prairie’ allows the young people to reflect on their experiences each day in Lourdes.
There are so many highlights of the pilgrimage, so many moving moments (the ‘Baths’), so many times when you are touched by being with the sick pilgrims, simply serving. At the same time you are made aware of your own good health and good fortune.

One evening we attended the Medal Ceremony, where individual helpers are awarded medals for their years of service. One man was presented with a special award for sixty years’ service to the Dublin Pilgrimage.

The girls made many friends and joined in all the activities including a table-quiz, and a ‘sing-song’, where again there was no stopping their musical talent with a version of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Valerie’.

A special tradition that we have established is to go privately to the Grotto on the last night and light a very large candle for all connected with Maryfield College, and for those who supported us through our fund-raising efforts. We prayed at the Grotto for everyone’s intentions. This year we lit a very special candle in memory of our beloved Ciara Hawe, and we prayed especially for Ciara’s family and friends. Our four girls this year also lit four candles to pray for last year’s four volunteers from Maryfield – to bless them as they begin the new directions in their lives having finished school.

It is hard to put into words the experience of Lourdes. There is definitely something special, spiritual and sacred about this place. The legacy of Our Blessed Lady and St. Bernadette is truly present.

Our four students were amazing ambassadors for our school and we can be extremely proud of them. Lourdes will always be a unique experience for them, and hopefully at a later stage they will return there.

 

 

One Million Stars

The project “ONE MILLION STARS” began in Australia in 2012, when Samoan artist Maryann Talia Pau began weaving the eight-pointed stars as a response to the murder of Gillian Meagher, an Irish woman living in Australia.

Click on the link below to learn about the One Million Stars project.

ONE MILLION STARS

 

 

For My Sister

As part of celebrating international women’s day, we would like to say that we are organizing a collection to help the AOIBHNESS Women’s Shelter. When women flee their homes from domestic violence, they often have very little with them. On arrival to the shelter, they are given a welcome pack.

Click on the link below to learn about the For My Sister campaign.

FOR MY SISTER

4th Years on Retreat 
Our fourth years went on retreat to Tipperary in November, 2021.

SHOWCASE AND SHARE –

STUDENT ACTION FOR CHANGE

Patricia Seery / Maryfield College

On Tuesday February 1st, Maryfield College attended an online gathering to connect with the wider Le Cheile community. This day was to celebrate St. Brigid’s day by showcasing and sharing all the amazing work that all the Le Cheile schools are involved in. the day was a celebration of many forms of student action that our schools are involved in.

Five Maryfield students were involved- Karoline Biju (6th Year), Amy Sheehy and Emma Kearney (5th Year) and Sophia Malik and Sarah Elders (3rd Year). There were over four hundred participants from seventy-five schools.  everyone gathered in prayer, in shared activities and shared ideas.

This meeting also provided an opportunity for the teachers involved to connect with other teaching colleagues in the Le Cheile community regarding Student Leadership and ethos in action. As part of the gathering, everyone was divided up into Breakout Rooms, where the students got to talk to each other, and were able to share and highlight the many great things that happen in their school community involving student leadership and action.

The students enjoyed the gathering and perhaps have brought some new ideas back to Maryfield.

Some student reflections:

REFLECTION ON LE CHÉILE’S ST BRIGID’S DAY CELEBRATION

Since St Brigid’s day is officially a national holiday starting from next year, this year was the last year where schools would be open for St Brigid’s Day. To celebrate this joyous occasion, On the 1st of February this year, Le Chéile organised a zoom meeting where all Le Chéile schools could gather to show their appreciation for St Brigid, and her core values evident in each Le Chéile school. I had the honour of participating in the celebration and I really enjoyed it. The day started with introductions given by the CEO of Le Chéile and then it moved onto the showcase and share where presentations were made by different schools to showcase the values of St Brigid evident in their schools. I thought all the presentations made by each school were well done. I especially enjoyed the song that was sung by one of the schools. The song was an original written by a student in the school and it showed the talent and creativity found in the Le Chéile schools. It made me reflect on how being a part of Le Chéile has allowed schools to harness their students’ abilities and give them an opportunity to reach their full potential. After the showcase and share, we were put into breakout rooms. This was my favourite part of the day because it allowed me to connect with students from other schools across the country and abroad! We had a chance to talk and present our schools to each other. There were about six other schools in my breakout room, and I really liked how small the breakout rooms were because we all had a chance to talk and converse. When it was my turn to talk, I had so many things I wanted to talk about, but I settled on talking about the One Million Stars project we started doing in school that aims to end violence against women. I wanted to talk about something that was important and something I was proud of doing in school. I also hoped that other schools would hear the idea and would be inspired to also start the project in their own schools. Not only was I able to represent Maryfield and present what we had to offer, I was also lucky enough to take from the experience, new ideas that can be brought into Maryfield such as the initiative to cycle to school or including learning about all the languages found in Maryfield into our intercultural club. I am so thankful to have been asked to be a part of this celebration and I enjoyed and learned a lot from this occasion.

Showcase and Share 2022

My experience in the showcase and share with Le Cheile was very special and moving. I thought it was incredible the way so many schools were connected and were able to spread the things and events that make their school special. I really enjoyed watching the videos that were presented during the meeting as I think they were very impactful as they showed you a visual of all the amazing things they do, whilst watching the videos it just put you in a great mood and made you want to do all those things too. During the zoom meeting I learned that our school and all the other schools celebrate similar events and have similar procedures, but we all do them in different ways. By attending the zoom meeting, it really opened my eyes to some of the ideas that other schools shared and made me want  to bring and spread those ideas in our own school. I think by attending the showcase and share, it really made me want to make a difference in our school and make our school have an even better atmosphere, including environment and do things that don’t just benefit us in Maryfield, but the wider local, national, and international community. Overall, I think the Le Cheile St. Brigid’s day Showcase and share made everyone feel touched and motivated to do amazing things in their schools and made everyone feel included in an experience that will change the way all the schools approach all these events, holidays, social issues, and problems in their schools. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in such a wonderful and impactful event.

  • Le Cheile Schools in Action:

https://youtu.be/RbvYRMY1RrM

  • Le Cheile Keys Project:

https://youtu.be/t6eTnDtHkWs

  • Le Cheile / Welcome to the Le Cheile Centre

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v+GueKPNL05Jl


Catholic Schools Week Art Competition

Here are some photos of the winners from the art competition held as part of Catholic Schools Week. The students were asked to draw or create their image of God.


Carol Singing at Nazareth House

Our Transition Year students brought some Christmas cheer to Nazareth House Nursing Home where they sang carols and Christmas songs for the residents.


Beginning of School Year Mass

Our mass to mark the beginning of the academic year is a very important occasion in our school calendar. The entire school community gathers together in Marino Parish Church where we welcome new students and staff, wish former staff and students well, pray together and share in the Eucharist.

The theme of this year’s mass echoed the words of St. Teresa of Avila, “Christ has no body now but yours”, focusing particularly on the power of our hands to do good in the world. This theme was beautifully woven into the liturgy and reiterated in the words of Fr. Tom’s homily, encouraging us to use our hands to build rather than to break.

Many students throughout the school contributed to the school mass through art, music and reading. Our new First Years were welcomed and our newly appointed Prefects were presented with their badges.


Another September!

Less than two weeks after the World Meeting of Families and the visit of Pope Francis to Ireland, it was now time for the Maryfield girls accompanied by Ms. Seery to join the over 2,000 Dublin parishioners and pilgrims as part of the annual Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes.

Friday September 7th saw seven aircraft depart from Dublin for Lourdes carrying sick pilgrims, helpers, medical staff, clergy and students.

Our four 6th Years, Aoife Hayes, Aoife Traynor, Hannah Byrne Kennedy and Dearbhaile Mulrooney, were among the wonderful young people from twenty-five secondary schools taking part.

Numeracy Moment!
177 sick pilgrims
45 nurses
8 doctors
300 young volunteers/helpers
35 priests
4 deacons
1 archbishop
133 ‘Blue Shirts’
20 parish groups

The Maryfield girls were part of the ‘Blue Shirts’ team. They began work on their arrival at the airport on Friday the 7th, helping to load all the sick pilgrims onto the planes. They continued to work tirelessly until our arrival back at Dublin Airport on September 12th where they assisted with the disembarkation of pilgrims.

The whole Lourdes experience was amazing, the weather glorious and the encounters with the people truly special. The girls’ duties involved working the acceuil (reception duties) and flag/stewarding duties at the ceremonies throughout the pilgrimage. This year, the Maryfield girls also lent their voices to the Lourdes Folk Group at the liturgies held for the pilgrims.
Every evening (after 10pm most nights) when all duties and ceremonies had ended, the ‘Blue Shirts’ then attended ‘Prairie’ with the youth chaplain, Fr. Paul Thornton, the youth Lourdes Pilgrimage leaders Michelle and Eoin, and all the teachers and students from the various schools. ‘Prairie’ allows the young people to reflect on their experiences each day in Lourdes.
There are so many highlights of the pilgrimage, so many moving moments (the ‘Baths’), so many times when you are touched by being with the sick pilgrims, simply serving. At the same time you are made aware of your own good health and good fortune.

One evening we attended the Medal Ceremony, where individual helpers are awarded medals for their years of service. One man was presented with a special award for sixty years’ service to the Dublin Pilgrimage.

The girls made many friends and joined in all the activities including a table-quiz, and a ‘sing-song’, where again there was no stopping their musical talent with a version of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Valerie’.

A special tradition that we have established is to go privately to the Grotto on the last night and light a very large candle for all connected with Maryfield College, and for those who supported us through our fund-raising efforts. We prayed at the Grotto for everyone’s intentions. This year we lit a very special candle in memory of our beloved Ciara Hawe, and we prayed especially for Ciara’s family and friends. Our four girls this year also lit four candles to pray for last year’s four volunteers from Maryfield – to bless them as they begin the new directions in their lives having finished school.

It is hard to put into words the experience of Lourdes. There is definitely something special, spiritual and sacred about this place. The legacy of Our Blessed Lady and St. Bernadette is truly present.

Our four students were amazing ambassadors for our school and we can be extremely proud of them. Lourdes will always be a unique experience for them, and hopefully at a later stage they will return there.

 

 

 

 

One Million Stars

The project “ONE MILLION STARS” began in Australia in 2012, when Samoan artist Maryann Talia Pau began weaving the eight-pointed stars as a response to the murder of Gillian Meagher, an Irish woman living in Australia.

Click on the link below to learn about the One Million Stars project.

ONE MILLION STARS

For My Sister

As part of celebrating international women’s day, we would like to say that we are organizing a collection to help the AOIBHNESS Women’s Shelter. When women flee their homes from domestic violence, they often have very little with them. On arrival to the shelter, they are given a welcome pack.

Click on the link below to learn about the For My Sister campaign.

FOR MY SISTER

4th Years on Retreat 
Our fourth years went on retreat to Tipperary in November, 2021.

SHOWCASE AND SHARE –

STUDENT ACTION FOR CHANGE

Patricia Seery / Maryfield College

On Tuesday February 1st, Maryfield College attended an online gathering to connect with the wider Le Cheile community. This day was to celebrate St. Brigid’s day by showcasing and sharing all the amazing work that all the Le Cheile schools are involved in. the day was a celebration of many forms of student action that our schools are involved in.

Five Maryfield students were involved- Karoline Biju (6th Year), Amy Sheehy and Emma Kearney (5th Year) and Sophia Malik and Sarah Elders (3rd Year). There were over four hundred participants from seventy-five schools.  everyone gathered in prayer, in shared activities and shared ideas.

This meeting also provided an opportunity for the teachers involved to connect with other teaching colleagues in the Le Cheile community regarding Student Leadership and ethos in action. As part of the gathering, everyone was divided up into Breakout Rooms, where the students got to talk to each other, and were able to share and highlight the many great things that happen in their school community involving student leadership and action.

The students enjoyed the gathering and perhaps have brought some new ideas back to Maryfield.

Some student reflections:

REFLECTION ON LE CHÉILE’S ST BRIGID’S DAY CELEBRATION

Since St Brigid’s day is officially a national holiday starting from next year, this year was the last year where schools would be open for St Brigid’s Day. To celebrate this joyous occasion, On the 1st of February this year, Le Chéile organised a zoom meeting where all Le Chéile schools could gather to show their appreciation for St Brigid, and her core values evident in each Le Chéile school. I had the honour of participating in the celebration and I really enjoyed it. The day started with introductions given by the CEO of Le Chéile and then it moved onto the showcase and share where presentations were made by different schools to showcase the values of St Brigid evident in their schools. I thought all the presentations made by each school were well done. I especially enjoyed the song that was sung by one of the schools. The song was an original written by a student in the school and it showed the talent and creativity found in the Le Chéile schools. It made me reflect on how being a part of Le Chéile has allowed schools to harness their students’ abilities and give them an opportunity to reach their full potential. After the showcase and share, we were put into breakout rooms. This was my favourite part of the day because it allowed me to connect with students from other schools across the country and abroad! We had a chance to talk and present our schools to each other. There were about six other schools in my breakout room, and I really liked how small the breakout rooms were because we all had a chance to talk and converse. When it was my turn to talk, I had so many things I wanted to talk about, but I settled on talking about the One Million Stars project we started doing in school that aims to end violence against women. I wanted to talk about something that was important and something I was proud of doing in school. I also hoped that other schools would hear the idea and would be inspired to also start the project in their own schools. Not only was I able to represent Maryfield and present what we had to offer, I was also lucky enough to take from the experience, new ideas that can be brought into Maryfield such as the initiative to cycle to school or including learning about all the languages found in Maryfield into our intercultural club. I am so thankful to have been asked to be a part of this celebration and I enjoyed and learned a lot from this occasion.

Showcase and Share 2022

My experience in the showcase and share with Le Cheile was very special and moving. I thought it was incredible the way so many schools were connected and were able to spread the things and events that make their school special. I really enjoyed watching the videos that were presented during the meeting as I think they were very impactful as they showed you a visual of all the amazing things they do, whilst watching the videos it just put you in a great mood and made you want to do all those things too. During the zoom meeting I learned that our school and all the other schools celebrate similar events and have similar procedures, but we all do them in different ways. By attending the zoom meeting, it really opened my eyes to some of the ideas that other schools shared and made me want  to bring and spread those ideas in our own school. I think by attending the showcase and share, it really made me want to make a difference in our school and make our school have an even better atmosphere, including environment and do things that don’t just benefit us in Maryfield, but the wider local, national, and international community. Overall, I think the Le Cheile St. Brigid’s day Showcase and share made everyone feel touched and motivated to do amazing things in their schools and made everyone feel included in an experience that will change the way all the schools approach all these events, holidays, social issues, and problems in their schools. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in such a wonderful and impactful event.

  • Le Cheile Schools in Action:

https://youtu.be/RbvYRMY1RrM

  • Le Cheile Keys Project:

https://youtu.be/t6eTnDtHkWs

  • Le Cheile / Welcome to the Le Cheile Centre

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v+GueKPNL05Jl


Catholic Schools Week Art Competition

Here are some photos of the winners from the art competition held as part of Catholic Schools Week. The students were asked to draw or create their image of God.


Carol Singing at Nazareth House

Our Transition Year students brought some Christmas cheer to Nazareth House Nursing Home where they sang carols and Christmas songs for the residents.


Beginning of School Year Mass

Our mass to mark the beginning of the academic year is a very important occasion in our school calendar. The entire school community gathers together in Marino Parish Church where we welcome new students and staff, wish former staff and students well, pray together and share in the Eucharist.

The theme of this year’s mass echoed the words of St. Teresa of Avila, “Christ has no body now but yours”, focusing particularly on the power of our hands to do good in the world. This theme was beautifully woven into the liturgy and reiterated in the words of Fr. Tom’s homily, encouraging us to use our hands to build rather than to break.

Many students throughout the school contributed to the school mass through art, music and reading. Our new First Years were welcomed and our newly appointed Prefects were presented with their badges.


Another September!

Less than two weeks after the World Meeting of Families and the visit of Pope Francis to Ireland, it was now time for the Maryfield girls accompanied by Ms. Seery to join the over 2,000 Dublin parishioners and pilgrims as part of the annual Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes.

Friday September 7th saw seven aircraft depart from Dublin for Lourdes carrying sick pilgrims, helpers, medical staff, clergy and students.

Our four 6th Years, Aoife Hayes, Aoife Traynor, Hannah Byrne Kennedy and Dearbhaile Mulrooney, were among the wonderful young people from twenty-five secondary schools taking part.

Numeracy Moment!
177 sick pilgrims
45 nurses
8 doctors
300 young volunteers/helpers
35 priests
4 deacons
1 archbishop
133 ‘Blue Shirts’
20 parish groups

The Maryfield girls were part of the ‘Blue Shirts’ team. They began work on their arrival at the airport on Friday the 7th, helping to load all the sick pilgrims onto the planes. They continued to work tirelessly until our arrival back at Dublin Airport on September 12th where they assisted with the disembarkation of pilgrims.

The whole Lourdes experience was amazing, the weather glorious and the encounters with the people truly special. The girls’ duties involved working the acceuil (reception duties) and flag/stewarding duties at the ceremonies throughout the pilgrimage. This year, the Maryfield girls also lent their voices to the Lourdes Folk Group at the liturgies held for the pilgrims.
Every evening (after 10pm most nights) when all duties and ceremonies had ended, the ‘Blue Shirts’ then attended ‘Prairie’ with the youth chaplain, Fr. Paul Thornton, the youth Lourdes Pilgrimage leaders Michelle and Eoin, and all the teachers and students from the various schools. ‘Prairie’ allows the young people to reflect on their experiences each day in Lourdes.
There are so many highlights of the pilgrimage, so many moving moments (the ‘Baths’), so many times when you are touched by being with the sick pilgrims, simply serving. At the same time you are made aware of your own good health and good fortune.

One evening we attended the Medal Ceremony, where individual helpers are awarded medals for their years of service. One man was presented with a special award for sixty years’ service to the Dublin Pilgrimage.

The girls made many friends and joined in all the activities including a table-quiz, and a ‘sing-song’, where again there was no stopping their musical talent with a version of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Valerie’.

A special tradition that we have established is to go privately to the Grotto on the last night and light a very large candle for all connected with Maryfield College, and for those who supported us through our fund-raising efforts. We prayed at the Grotto for everyone’s intentions. This year we lit a very special candle in memory of our beloved Ciara Hawe, and we prayed especially for Ciara’s family and friends. Our four girls this year also lit four candles to pray for last year’s four volunteers from Maryfield – to bless them as they begin the new directions in their lives having finished school.

It is hard to put into words the experience of Lourdes. There is definitely something special, spiritual and sacred about this place. The legacy of Our Blessed Lady and St. Bernadette is truly present.

Our four students were amazing ambassadors for our school and we can be extremely proud of them. Lourdes will always be a unique experience for them, and hopefully at a later stage they will return there.

 

 

 

 

One Million Stars

The project “ONE MILLION STARS” began in Australia in 2012, when Samoan artist Maryann Talia Pau began weaving the eight-pointed stars as a response to the murder of Gillian Meagher, an Irish woman living in Australia.

Click on the link below to learn about the One Million Stars project.

ONE MILLION STARS

For My Sister

As part of celebrating international women’s day, we would like to say that we are organizing a collection to help the AOIBHNESS Women’s Shelter. When women flee their homes from domestic violence, they often have very little with them. On arrival to the shelter, they are given a welcome pack.

Click on the link below to learn about the For My Sister campaign.

FOR MY SISTER

4th Years on Retreat 
Our fourth years went on retreat to Tipperary in November, 2021.

SHOWCASE AND SHARE –

STUDENT ACTION FOR CHANGE

Patricia Seery / Maryfield College

On Tuesday February 1st, Maryfield College attended an online gathering to connect with the wider Le Cheile community. This day was to celebrate St. Brigid’s day by showcasing and sharing all the amazing work that all the Le Cheile schools are involved in. the day was a celebration of many forms of student action that our schools are involved in.

Five Maryfield students were involved- Karoline Biju (6th Year), Amy Sheehy and Emma Kearney (5th Year) and Sophia Malik and Sarah Elders (3rd Year). There were over four hundred participants from seventy-five schools.  everyone gathered in prayer, in shared activities and shared ideas.

This meeting also provided an opportunity for the teachers involved to connect with other teaching colleagues in the Le Cheile community regarding Student Leadership and ethos in action. As part of the gathering, everyone was divided up into Breakout Rooms, where the students got to talk to each other, and were able to share and highlight the many great things that happen in their school community involving student leadership and action.

The students enjoyed the gathering and perhaps have brought some new ideas back to Maryfield.

Some student reflections:

REFLECTION ON LE CHÉILE’S ST BRIGID’S DAY CELEBRATION

Since St Brigid’s day is officially a national holiday starting from next year, this year was the last year where schools would be open for St Brigid’s Day. To celebrate this joyous occasion, On the 1st of February this year, Le Chéile organised a zoom meeting where all Le Chéile schools could gather to show their appreciation for St Brigid, and her core values evident in each Le Chéile school. I had the honour of participating in the celebration and I really enjoyed it. The day started with introductions given by the CEO of Le Chéile and then it moved onto the showcase and share where presentations were made by different schools to showcase the values of St Brigid evident in their schools. I thought all the presentations made by each school were well done. I especially enjoyed the song that was sung by one of the schools. The song was an original written by a student in the school and it showed the talent and creativity found in the Le Chéile schools. It made me reflect on how being a part of Le Chéile has allowed schools to harness their students’ abilities and give them an opportunity to reach their full potential. After the showcase and share, we were put into breakout rooms. This was my favourite part of the day because it allowed me to connect with students from other schools across the country and abroad! We had a chance to talk and present our schools to each other. There were about six other schools in my breakout room, and I really liked how small the breakout rooms were because we all had a chance to talk and converse. When it was my turn to talk, I had so many things I wanted to talk about, but I settled on talking about the One Million Stars project we started doing in school that aims to end violence against women. I wanted to talk about something that was important and something I was proud of doing in school. I also hoped that other schools would hear the idea and would be inspired to also start the project in their own schools. Not only was I able to represent Maryfield and present what we had to offer, I was also lucky enough to take from the experience, new ideas that can be brought into Maryfield such as the initiative to cycle to school or including learning about all the languages found in Maryfield into our intercultural club. I am so thankful to have been asked to be a part of this celebration and I enjoyed and learned a lot from this occasion.

Showcase and Share 2022

My experience in the showcase and share with Le Cheile was very special and moving. I thought it was incredible the way so many schools were connected and were able to spread the things and events that make their school special. I really enjoyed watching the videos that were presented during the meeting as I think they were very impactful as they showed you a visual of all the amazing things they do, whilst watching the videos it just put you in a great mood and made you want to do all those things too. During the zoom meeting I learned that our school and all the other schools celebrate similar events and have similar procedures, but we all do them in different ways. By attending the zoom meeting, it really opened my eyes to some of the ideas that other schools shared and made me want  to bring and spread those ideas in our own school. I think by attending the showcase and share, it really made me want to make a difference in our school and make our school have an even better atmosphere, including environment and do things that don’t just benefit us in Maryfield, but the wider local, national, and international community. Overall, I think the Le Cheile St. Brigid’s day Showcase and share made everyone feel touched and motivated to do amazing things in their schools and made everyone feel included in an experience that will change the way all the schools approach all these events, holidays, social issues, and problems in their schools. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in such a wonderful and impactful event.

  • Le Cheile Schools in Action:

https://youtu.be/RbvYRMY1RrM

  • Le Cheile Keys Project:

https://youtu.be/t6eTnDtHkWs

  • Le Cheile / Welcome to the Le Cheile Centre

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v+GueKPNL05Jl


Catholic Schools Week Art Competition

Here are some photos of the winners from the art competition held as part of Catholic Schools Week. The students were asked to draw or create their image of God.


Carol Singing at Nazareth House

Our Transition Year students brought some Christmas cheer to Nazareth House Nursing Home where they sang carols and Christmas songs for the residents.


Beginning of School Year Mass

Our mass to mark the beginning of the academic year is a very important occasion in our school calendar. The entire school community gathers together in Marino Parish Church where we welcome new students and staff, wish former staff and students well, pray together and share in the Eucharist.

The theme of this year’s mass echoed the words of St. Teresa of Avila, “Christ has no body now but yours”, focusing particularly on the power of our hands to do good in the world. This theme was beautifully woven into the liturgy and reiterated in the words of Fr. Tom’s homily, encouraging us to use our hands to build rather than to break.

Many students throughout the school contributed to the school mass through art, music and reading. Our new First Years were welcomed and our newly appointed Prefects were presented with their badges.


Another September!

Less than two weeks after the World Meeting of Families and the visit of Pope Francis to Ireland, it was now time for the Maryfield girls accompanied by Ms. Seery to join the over 2,000 Dublin parishioners and pilgrims as part of the annual Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes.

Friday September 7th saw seven aircraft depart from Dublin for Lourdes carrying sick pilgrims, helpers, medical staff, clergy and students.

Our four 6th Years, Aoife Hayes, Aoife Traynor, Hannah Byrne Kennedy and Dearbhaile Mulrooney, were among the wonderful young people from twenty-five secondary schools taking part.

Numeracy Moment!
177 sick pilgrims
45 nurses
8 doctors
300 young volunteers/helpers
35 priests
4 deacons
1 archbishop
133 ‘Blue Shirts’
20 parish groups

The Maryfield girls were part of the ‘Blue Shirts’ team. They began work on their arrival at the airport on Friday the 7th, helping to load all the sick pilgrims onto the planes. They continued to work tirelessly until our arrival back at Dublin Airport on September 12th where they assisted with the disembarkation of pilgrims.

The whole Lourdes experience was amazing, the weather glorious and the encounters with the people truly special. The girls’ duties involved working the acceuil (reception duties) and flag/stewarding duties at the ceremonies throughout the pilgrimage. This year, the Maryfield girls also lent their voices to the Lourdes Folk Group at the liturgies held for the pilgrims.
Every evening (after 10pm most nights) when all duties and ceremonies had ended, the ‘Blue Shirts’ then attended ‘Prairie’ with the youth chaplain, Fr. Paul Thornton, the youth Lourdes Pilgrimage leaders Michelle and Eoin, and all the teachers and students from the various schools. ‘Prairie’ allows the young people to reflect on their experiences each day in Lourdes.
There are so many highlights of the pilgrimage, so many moving moments (the ‘Baths’), so many times when you are touched by being with the sick pilgrims, simply serving. At the same time you are made aware of your own good health and good fortune.

One evening we attended the Medal Ceremony, where individual helpers are awarded medals for their years of service. One man was presented with a special award for sixty years’ service to the Dublin Pilgrimage.

The girls made many friends and joined in all the activities including a table-quiz, and a ‘sing-song’, where again there was no stopping their musical talent with a version of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Valerie’.

A special tradition that we have established is to go privately to the Grotto on the last night and light a very large candle for all connected with Maryfield College, and for those who supported us through our fund-raising efforts. We prayed at the Grotto for everyone’s intentions. This year we lit a very special candle in memory of our beloved Ciara Hawe, and we prayed especially for Ciara’s family and friends. Our four girls this year also lit four candles to pray for last year’s four volunteers from Maryfield – to bless them as they begin the new directions in their lives having finished school.

It is hard to put into words the experience of Lourdes. There is definitely something special, spiritual and sacred about this place. The legacy of Our Blessed Lady and St. Bernadette is truly present.

Our four students were amazing ambassadors for our school and we can be extremely proud of them. Lourdes will always be a unique experience for them, and hopefully at a later stage they will return there.

 

 

 

One Million Stars

The project “ONE MILLION STARS” began in Australia in 2012, when Samoan artist Maryann Talia Pau began weaving the eight-pointed stars as a response to the murder of Gillian Meagher, an Irish woman living in Australia.

Click on the link below to learn about the One Million Stars project.

ONE MILLION STARS

For My Sister

As part of celebrating international women’s day, we would like to say that we are organizing a collection to help the AOIBHNESS Women’s Shelter. When women flee their homes from domestic violence, they often have very little with them. On arrival to the shelter, they are given a welcome pack.

Click on the link below to learn about the For My Sister campaign.

FOR MY SISTER

4th Years on Retreat 
Our fourth years went on retreat to Tipperary in November, 2021.

SHOWCASE AND SHARE –

STUDENT ACTION FOR CHANGE

Patricia Seery / Maryfield College

On Tuesday February 1st, Maryfield College attended an online gathering to connect with the wider Le Cheile community. This day was to celebrate St. Brigid’s day by showcasing and sharing all the amazing work that all the Le Cheile schools are involved in. the day was a celebration of many forms of student action that our schools are involved in.

Five Maryfield students were involved- Karoline Biju (6th Year), Amy Sheehy and Emma Kearney (5th Year) and Sophia Malik and Sarah Elders (3rd Year). There were over four hundred participants from seventy-five schools.  everyone gathered in prayer, in shared activities and shared ideas.

This meeting also provided an opportunity for the teachers involved to connect with other teaching colleagues in the Le Cheile community regarding Student Leadership and ethos in action. As part of the gathering, everyone was divided up into Breakout Rooms, where the students got to talk to each other, and were able to share and highlight the many great things that happen in their school community involving student leadership and action.

The students enjoyed the gathering and perhaps have brought some new ideas back to Maryfield.

Some student reflections:

REFLECTION ON LE CHÉILE’S ST BRIGID’S DAY CELEBRATION

Since St Brigid’s day is officially a national holiday starting from next year, this year was the last year where schools would be open for St Brigid’s Day. To celebrate this joyous occasion, On the 1st of February this year, Le Chéile organised a zoom meeting where all Le Chéile schools could gather to show their appreciation for St Brigid, and her core values evident in each Le Chéile school. I had the honour of participating in the celebration and I really enjoyed it. The day started with introductions given by the CEO of Le Chéile and then it moved onto the showcase and share where presentations were made by different schools to showcase the values of St Brigid evident in their schools. I thought all the presentations made by each school were well done. I especially enjoyed the song that was sung by one of the schools. The song was an original written by a student in the school and it showed the talent and creativity found in the Le Chéile schools. It made me reflect on how being a part of Le Chéile has allowed schools to harness their students’ abilities and give them an opportunity to reach their full potential. After the showcase and share, we were put into breakout rooms. This was my favourite part of the day because it allowed me to connect with students from other schools across the country and abroad! We had a chance to talk and present our schools to each other. There were about six other schools in my breakout room, and I really liked how small the breakout rooms were because we all had a chance to talk and converse. When it was my turn to talk, I had so many things I wanted to talk about, but I settled on talking about the One Million Stars project we started doing in school that aims to end violence against women. I wanted to talk about something that was important and something I was proud of doing in school. I also hoped that other schools would hear the idea and would be inspired to also start the project in their own schools. Not only was I able to represent Maryfield and present what we had to offer, I was also lucky enough to take from the experience, new ideas that can be brought into Maryfield such as the initiative to cycle to school or including learning about all the languages found in Maryfield into our intercultural club. I am so thankful to have been asked to be a part of this celebration and I enjoyed and learned a lot from this occasion.

Showcase and Share 2022

My experience in the showcase and share with Le Cheile was very special and moving. I thought it was incredible the way so many schools were connected and were able to spread the things and events that make their school special. I really enjoyed watching the videos that were presented during the meeting as I think they were very impactful as they showed you a visual of all the amazing things they do, whilst watching the videos it just put you in a great mood and made you want to do all those things too. During the zoom meeting I learned that our school and all the other schools celebrate similar events and have similar procedures, but we all do them in different ways. By attending the zoom meeting, it really opened my eyes to some of the ideas that other schools shared and made me want  to bring and spread those ideas in our own school. I think by attending the showcase and share, it really made me want to make a difference in our school and make our school have an even better atmosphere, including environment and do things that don’t just benefit us in Maryfield, but the wider local, national, and international community. Overall, I think the Le Cheile St. Brigid’s day Showcase and share made everyone feel touched and motivated to do amazing things in their schools and made everyone feel included in an experience that will change the way all the schools approach all these events, holidays, social issues, and problems in their schools. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in such a wonderful and impactful event.

  • Le Cheile Schools in Action:

https://youtu.be/RbvYRMY1RrM

  • Le Cheile Keys Project:

https://youtu.be/t6eTnDtHkWs

  • Le Cheile / Welcome to the Le Cheile Centre

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v+GueKPNL05Jl


Catholic Schools Week Art Competition

Here are some photos of the winners from the art competition held as part of Catholic Schools Week. The students were asked to draw or create their image of God.


Carol Singing at Nazareth House

Our Transition Year students brought some Christmas cheer to Nazareth House Nursing Home where they sang carols and Christmas songs for the residents.


Beginning of School Year Mass

Our mass to mark the beginning of the academic year is a very important occasion in our school calendar. The entire school community gathers together in Marino Parish Church where we welcome new students and staff, wish former staff and students well, pray together and share in the Eucharist.

The theme of this year’s mass echoed the words of St. Teresa of Avila, “Christ has no body now but yours”, focusing particularly on the power of our hands to do good in the world. This theme was beautifully woven into the liturgy and reiterated in the words of Fr. Tom’s homily, encouraging us to use our hands to build rather than to break.

Many students throughout the school contributed to the school mass through art, music and reading. Our new First Years were welcomed and our newly appointed Prefects were presented with their badges.


Another September!

Less than two weeks after the World Meeting of Families and the visit of Pope Francis to Ireland, it was now time for the Maryfield girls accompanied by Ms. Seery to join the over 2,000 Dublin parishioners and pilgrims as part of the annual Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes.

Friday September 7th saw seven aircraft depart from Dublin for Lourdes carrying sick pilgrims, helpers, medical staff, clergy and students.

Our four 6th Years, Aoife Hayes, Aoife Traynor, Hannah Byrne Kennedy and Dearbhaile Mulrooney, were among the wonderful young people from twenty-five secondary schools taking part.

Numeracy Moment!
177 sick pilgrims
45 nurses
8 doctors
300 young volunteers/helpers
35 priests
4 deacons
1 archbishop
133 ‘Blue Shirts’
20 parish groups

The Maryfield girls were part of the ‘Blue Shirts’ team. They began work on their arrival at the airport on Friday the 7th, helping to load all the sick pilgrims onto the planes. They continued to work tirelessly until our arrival back at Dublin Airport on September 12th where they assisted with the disembarkation of pilgrims.

The whole Lourdes experience was amazing, the weather glorious and the encounters with the people truly special. The girls’ duties involved working the acceuil (reception duties) and flag/stewarding duties at the ceremonies throughout the pilgrimage. This year, the Maryfield girls also lent their voices to the Lourdes Folk Group at the liturgies held for the pilgrims.
Every evening (after 10pm most nights) when all duties and ceremonies had ended, the ‘Blue Shirts’ then attended ‘Prairie’ with the youth chaplain, Fr. Paul Thornton, the youth Lourdes Pilgrimage leaders Michelle and Eoin, and all the teachers and students from the various schools. ‘Prairie’ allows the young people to reflect on their experiences each day in Lourdes.
There are so many highlights of the pilgrimage, so many moving moments (the ‘Baths’), so many times when you are touched by being with the sick pilgrims, simply serving. At the same time you are made aware of your own good health and good fortune.

One evening we attended the Medal Ceremony, where individual helpers are awarded medals for their years of service. One man was presented with a special award for sixty years’ service to the Dublin Pilgrimage.

The girls made many friends and joined in all the activities including a table-quiz, and a ‘sing-song’, where again there was no stopping their musical talent with a version of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Valerie’.

A special tradition that we have established is to go privately to the Grotto on the last night and light a very large candle for all connected with Maryfield College, and for those who supported us through our fund-raising efforts. We prayed at the Grotto for everyone’s intentions. This year we lit a very special candle in memory of our beloved Ciara Hawe, and we prayed especially for Ciara’s family and friends. Our four girls this year also lit four candles to pray for last year’s four volunteers from Maryfield – to bless them as they begin the new directions in their lives having finished school.

It is hard to put into words the experience of Lourdes. There is definitely something special, spiritual and sacred about this place. The legacy of Our Blessed Lady and St. Bernadette is truly present.

Our four students were amazing ambassadors for our school and we can be extremely proud of them. Lourdes will always be a unique experience for them, and hopefully at a later stage they will return there.

Add Your Heading Text Here