Religious Education News

Next Monday 19 August, we celebrate St. Bernard’s feast day as a whole school.  A reminder for students to wear their regular sport uniform.

Activities include:

• Whole School Mass ,  St Bernard’s Church 9.15 am

• Clairvaux ‘Lap-a-thon for Mannya’ - School Oval  12- 1pm

• Sausage Sizzle from 1.15 pm

• Fun activities in class to celebrate the day. 

Families are most welcome to join us for the Mass and lapathon. If you are able to help with the Sausage Sizzle please sign up to help via the link Sign up to help with the St Bernard's Day Sausage Sizzle

St. Bernard is the patron saint of our parish and school. St. Bernard lived a prayerful and simple life and placed importance on:

• Hospitality
• Welcome  
• Love of learning

Our school was named after the Clairvaux village in France where St. Bernard lived. Clairvaux means ‘valley of light’ and this year our theme for St. Bernard’s Day is focused on how we can  ‘ shine our light for others’ by helping those in need. 
It has been a tradition for around 15 years at Clairvaux Catholic school, that on St. Bernard’s Day we take part in a lap-a-thon to raise money for children at St. Aloysius school in Mannya. Mannya is situated in Uganda in Africa.  Our fundraising efforts aim to make a difference to the health, education and self-sufficiency of the Mannya community. The money we raise from the lapathon is used specifically to assist with the education and well being needs of the 400 children who attend St. Aloysius Primary School.   Many of these children are orphans due to AIDS and they do not have any food to eat until  they are at school.
In the past, through our fundraising efforts,  we have been able to assist with:

• Supported the building of the school (St. Aloysius)

• Sport equipment

• Books and stationery

• Breakfast/lunch (rice) for the students 

• Cows to provide milk to drink 

• Supported the coffee bean growing initiative, creating jobs and an income for families -  helping the community  become more self sufficient

More information about how both Clairvaux and St. Bernard’s parish support Mannya can be found on this link

Fr. Emma, the parish priest at St. Aloysius has visited Clairvaux many times over the years and was able to be part of our lapathon last year.  He is very grateful for our ongoing support.

This year we encourage everyone at Clairvaux to once again support our annual lapathon by asking sponsors to donate money to support the children of Mannya. Sponsors may choose to nominate an amount per lap, or make a donation. Donations can be made on-line through  School 24, under EVENTS - Lapathon for Mannya or cash donations may be made through the school office by Friday 30 August.

Thank you for your support.

CONFIRMATION

Confirmation is the final sacrament of Initiation into our Catholic faith.  Your child has already received the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist.  Confirmation will help our children grow in gradual ways in the faith journey.

This week, our Year 6 Confirmation Candidates attended and informative and entertaining Family Faith Evening facilitated by Fr Elio Capra.  Elio is a priest of the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), is a lecturer at Catholic Theological College and is an experienced facilitator of Sacramental evenings.  We were very fortunate to be part of his presentation, which was both engaging and insightful. Fr. Elio Capra's deep knowledge and passion for his faith were evident throughout the evening. His ability to connect with the candidates and their families made the session particularly memorable. He skillfully combined storytelling with theological insights, creating an environment that was both educational and inspiring. The evening provided valuable reflections and practical guidance for the Confirmation journey, reinforcing the importance of faith in daily life and helping to prepare the candidates for their upcoming sacrament. We are grateful for the opportunity to have experienced such a meaningful event and look forward to seeing how it will impact our candidates as they continue their spiritual formation.

Reminders to Confirmation candidates

• Register at  St Bernard’s Parish website  www.stbernards.org.au
• Prepare stole by choosing a Confirmation symbol.  If ordering through www.graciousglyphs.com.au, the candidate should place it in the classroom note bag to be sent to the school office.

• Bookings for Confirmation Masses  have opened. 

Use this link: https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code/y6hj6

• Confirmation Masses:   Sunday 8th September 1 pm and 3.30 pm

                                       Tuesday 10th September 6.30 pm

• Confirmation Preparation Day - Wednesday 4th September

• Extra Committment Mass is being held this weekend on Saturday 17 August at 6 pm for those student who were unable to attend previous weekends.

Please direct any queries regarding Confirmation to classroom teachers or Jroutley@ccsbelmont.com.au

 Julie Routley (REL)