Chapel Matters

As we lead up to the 125th celebrations as a school, it is a timely reminder to have a look at our School Prayer which was written all that time ago. Despite its age, with its archaic language and complex sentence structure – it is, in fact, one very long sentence! – it still speaks to us today, and is a prayer worthy of saying with conviction!

In chapel this week we looked at the “pairs of pairs” that it contains which can help us learn it off-by-heart, and which might be present because it was written by a pair of nuns! For example, at the outset, God is described in two ways, each of which has two elements – God is a “Heavenly Father” and also an “Author and Giver.” Or, we have pairs of qualities from Paul’s letter to the Philippians (4.4-8) with which we want God to bless us: “true and pure” and “lovely and of good report.” We want these things to “flourish and abound” at school.

We also noticed how our four graduate attributes (values) are also in pairs (in English): Be You, Better Together, Can Do, Explore Faith. And we noticed how these ideas are also present in the prayer! Truth and purity are about being honest, transparent, clear and open – this is what we want to encourage – Be You! Having a good report (or reputation) as a school for being a community that cares and is inclusive is about being Better Together! We want students to grow in their knowledge and love of God – to Explore Faith! And to live lives full of grace and service which makes this world a beautiful place – Can Do!

See what other “pairs of pairs” you notice as you look over it and as you pray it …