Prayer and Liturgy Coordinator: Ms L Hazlewood
Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” – Mark 12:29-31
At St Patrick’s, the fulfilment of Jesus’ Greatest Commandment – to love God and love our neighbours – is at the heart of prayer and liturgy. Liturgical celebrations and times of prayer are integral to school life, and are designed so that members of our school community have valuable opportunities for reflection, to experience God’s presence and develop spiritually.
Our students begin every day by gathering together for morning prayer, either through form time or assembly. Pupils regularly listen to or read scripture, and reflect on the meaning and relevance of Biblical teachings. Our staff and pupils are invited to consider what our mission is as the Body of Christ and People of God in today’s world. Pupils also become familiar with traditional Catholic prayers, and have opportunities to pray for their own needs and the needs of others. Ensuring that morning prayer offers pupils and staff a variety of different ways to worship and communicate with God has been fundamental to our development of these important daily acts of worship.
Each week, pupils and staff are invited to join Fr Martin Collins for prayer in our beautiful chapel on Wednesdays. Each year, every form has the opportunity to lead Wednesday prayer for the benefit of all who attend. Pupil voice gathered in January 2025 reflects how important these acts of collective worship are to our students:
- Pupils enjoy the “sense of togetherness and shared identity”, “freedom of expression”, “reading” and the “quietness and calm”.
- Pupils feel they benefit through being able to “reflect on the ‘bigger picture’ of life”, spending time with Fr Martin and being “inspired by the music, prayers and readings”.
- Pupils say Wednesday prayer services make them feel “more comfortable” with how to pray, increasing the likelihood that they will pray independently.
Every month, Mass is celebrated in our school hall by Fr Martin Collins. These experiences of staff, pupils and parents/carers coming together, united in faith, serve as a consistently powerful reminder that Christ is at the centre of all we do at St Patrick’s. Pupil voice collected during the Autumn term of 2024-2025 again reflects how much our students value these liturgical celebrations:
- Pupils say Mass enables them to deepen their relationship with God, leaving them feeling closer to God.
- Pupils enjoy singing hymns and listening to our choir during Mass.
- Pupils understand the importance of receiving the Eucharist, as this is the source and summit of Christian life.
- Pupils enjoy actively participating during Masses through reading, singing, praying and altar serving.
- Pupils appreciate their family members joining us for Mass.
In addition to the above, members of our community also benefit from and participate in a number of special liturgical celebrations during the year. For example, we come together at Holy Cross RC Church for the Year 7 Welcome Mass and St Patrick’s Day Mass, we gather as a whole school community in prayer on Remembrance Day in November, pupils and staff mark Ash Wednesday with a special service, and we send our Year 11 pupils out into the world beyond St Patrick’s with their Leavers’ Mass.
For more information about prayer and liturgy at St Patrick’s, please read our Prayer And Liturgy Policy
Sunday Mass – 21st June 2026
Pupils celebrated Sunday Mass with parishioners at St Joseph the Worker RC Church in Irlam! Thank you to Fr Tony for the very warm welcome, and for giving us the opportunity to minister through reading, the bidding prayers and the offertory.
Gallery 2026-2027
Commissioning Mass – 24th September 2026
Thank you to Fr Martin for celebrating our Pupil Chaplaincy Commissioning Mass at Holy Cross this morning, alongside the GIFT Teams and Faith in Action Groups from St Gilbert’s and St Mary’s! We now have 108 Pupil Chaplains commissioned to this important role, ready to lead their peers in faith. Thank you to Mrs Mulholland and our wonderful choir for leading today’s singing as well.
Year 7 Welcome Mass- 11th September 2026
Thank you to Fr Martin for celebrating our Year 7 Welcome Mass and to our partner primary Headteachers, parents/carers and parishioners for joining us! Year 7 pupils completed various ministries and sang beautifully. This was a wonderful celebration to mark the beginning of our journey in faith at St Patrick’s.
Staff Inset Walking Talking Mass – 1st September 2026
Thank you to Fr Martin for celebrating our whole staff ‘Walking Talking Mass’ again this year, ensuring we began our INSET days in the best possible way! Staff have returned rested and ready for the new year ahead, and were delighted to welcome pupils back to school last week.
Gallery 2025-2026
Eucharist for the Epiphany – 9th January 2026
Thank you to Fr Martin Collins for celebrating Mass with us! We celebrated the Eucharist for the Epiphany, and Year 11 enjoyed their year group Mass alongside staff and parents/carers. A fantastic way for us to start the new year and Spring term together as a community of faith!
Advent Carol Service – 16th December 2025
Staff, pupils, parents/carers, alumni and parishioners came together to prepare for the coming of Christ through our annual Advent Carol Service at Holy Cross RC Church. Highlights included the drama performance ‘The Greatest Light of all’, the Year 7 Choir joining our established Choir, and the Staff Choir. It is always a very special time in our school calendar for us to come together in faith. Special thanks to Mrs Mulholland and Ms Hazlewood for all their hard work!
Examination of Conscience – 15th October 2025
Pupils in 8MCA took part in an ‘Examination of Conscience’ in our beautiful school chapel and showed a lot of reverence and respect. Pupils have been learning about Conscience in lesson so they had chance to reflect on how they use their conscience in their own lives.
Year 7 Welcome Mass – 5th September 2025
Thank you to our fantastic new Year 7 cohort, their families and Fr Martin for a wonderful Year 7 Welcome Mass at Holy Cross RC Church. It was wonderful to hear pupils singing our school hymn together, and to witness the prayerful and reverent atmosphere they created in church. Welcome to the St Patrick’s family, Year 7!